We Don't Belong Here: Age of Ultron
by TheMostRandomOfRandomWriters
Summary: It's been three years for Ivy, and everything's changed. Ever since she discovered she could travel between universes, life has steadily changed, and secrets came with the changes. Now, a lot of secrets are about to be revealed - and not all of them are hers.
1. Chapter 1

Time has a habit of doing things we didn't expect.

When I was fifteen, I thought things would be different at seventeen, almost eighteen. I thought I'd be almost ready to graduate high school, picking out my prom dress, I don't know, whatever you do at that age.

I did _not_ think I would be making deals with the sort of fictional organization HYDRA.

Baron Strucker stood across from me. "You want information about the universe traveler? She's supposed to be dead."

"I know. However, I had a particular interest in her and am trying to make some sense out of what can be found out about her." I caught myself toying with the blond hair of my wig and dropped my hands to my sides.

"What does a fortune teller want with her memories?"

Fortune _Seller_. As far as I'm concerned, fortune telling is a rip off. "That is my personal business, Herr Strucker. Do we have a deal or not? The information I asked for in return for some that I promise you will not regret buying? HYDRA has made deals with me in the past, you know that I am trustworthy."

He thought for a moment.

Then I saw the twins, out of the corner of my eye.

Pietro and Wanda Maximoff stood by the door.

I should have guessed...

"Sir, it's the Avengers," said a voice.

"The Avengers?" I said. My voice squeaked slightly.

"Can we stop them?"

"Sir, it's the Avengers."

"And that's my cue to exit." I pressed a button on my teleporter.

Nothing happened.

"Brilliant," I muttered. "Just brilliant."

"You have no friends in the Avengers?"

"I do, actually. Or I did. Not anymore. It's... complicated." They all thought I was dead.

Like I said. Complicated. Really complicated. You'll find out eventually.

"If you can have a little patience, Fortune Seller, I'll deal with you after I deal with the Avengers."

"Seeing as I don't seem to be going anywhere..." But I couldn't stay. The Avengers would find out I was alive eventually. But did it have to be _now_? It probably would be. Still, these things were avoidable sometimes... I tried the teleporter again. Still nothing. It always broke when I needed it for situations just like this. It hadn't been the same since Nebula broke it on Knowhere.

"I will send someone to get the files for you. We have them on paper elsewhere in the building."

"You have someone to spare for that?"

"We must keep the Fortune Seller happy. Your services are valuable. Pietro!" he said. "Run down to the room where we keep the files and pull out the one on Ivy Williams."

There was a blue blur, then Quicksilver reappeared. "What am I, an errand boy?"

"No, you're the person who does it fastest," I said, taking the file. "Thank you very much, Pietro Maximoff."

"How do you know my name?"

"Being the Fortune Seller has its privileges. I see things like that. Sometimes. It depends on... you know what, you'll find out in the next few days, so I won't spoil it for you."

He stared at me for a moment, then walked back to his sister.

"Herr Strucker, is there anywhere I could stay out of the way while you go about dealing with the intruders?"

"How is this going to turn out?"

"Since you were so prompt with the file, I'll tell you." I lowered my voice so only he could heard. "Not well. You may want to have the Maximoffs deal with them."

"Thank you. Your presence presents a problem. If they find you here –"

With that, he pulled out a gun.

I moved instinctively, disarming him and throwing the weapon into the corner of the room.

I pressed my teleporter and ended up in the room with the Chitauri Leviathan.

The thing works funny. It doesn't like to teleport long distances when I'm in a dangerous situation, but it _will_ teleport within a hundred yards or something like that. I guess it likes me to stay where I am, but also wants me to survive. I don't know, I didn't design this. All I know is that it seems to have a mind of its own.

I started fiddling with the teleporter, seeing if I would try to make it work. It didn't.

Outside, explosions and gunfire could be heard.

And then they stopped.

Uh oh.

I sat in silence for a moment, listening.

Then I heard footsteps nearby.

I stood up and ran, hiding much further back in the room.

Tony Stark entered the room.

It had been about a year since I had last seen him. He didn't look much different.

I held my breath, listening and watching.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver appeared behind him.

I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see what would happen next.

There was a moment of absolute silence.

Then Tony gasped. Wanda Maximoff had done her job.

I opened my eyes to see the twins leaving.

I couldn't leave Tony standing there like that, confronted with his inner fears. I've been called a sociopath, but I'm not one.

Tony stared off into the distance.

I walked forward slowly. He didn't seem to notice me.

"Tony," I said, softly.

He didn't respond.

I grabbed his arm and shook it, hard. "Tony, snap out of it!"

He jumped and took several steps back. "Who are you? What are you doing?"

I let go and held up my hands. "The Maximoff girl did something to your head. I was trying to make you snap out of it."

"You're HYDRA."

"No, I'm not. I freelance... sort of. HYDRA is _despicable_. I only work with them when they have information which I need."

"Who are you?"

"The Fortune Seller, Tony."

"I know who the Fortune Seller is. You're some kind of whackjob who claims to be a fortune teller, and you sell helpful information to some of the worst people on the planet. You're as despicable as HYDRA. And it's Mr. Stark to you."

The words were like a gut punch. "I am not as despicable as HYDRA. I only sell information to HYDRA which will ease their body count." I lifted my chin slightly.

"You can justify it however you want, it still doesn't make it right."

"I'm sorry you feel that way about me, Tony – Mr. Stark. Perhaps I could change your mind, one day." I turned away slightly so that he couldn't see my expression. "Right now is not the time, however. Good day. I suspect you'll be hearing from me again soon."

"I hope not."

"We don't always get what we want, Mr. Stark. If I got what I wanted, I wouldn't be here." I turned around and walked away.

He grabbed my arm. "You're making deals with HYDRA and you think you can walk away?"

I wrenched my arm free and pressed my teleporter. I found myself standing outside in the snow.

My eyes stung. I leaned against a tree for a moment, blinking hard.

Gunshots sounded nearby.

I tried the teleporter again.

It worked first try this time. I found myself inside my apartment.

I sighed and dropped down into a chair. That hadn't gone the way I planned it to.

But I still had the file.

I opened it.

A picture fell out. A girl with bobbed red hair, a bright smile on her face, leaned against a wall, talking with someone. The shot looked like it had been taken from a security camera or something.

I went through the contents slowly and carefully. The first parts of information were basic, but chilling. They knew everything. Hobbies, people she spent time with, places she liked to hang out.

Then came her family history. I skimmed it, only noting that her older brother had been adopted because the parents thought they couldn't have children. I had known the brother to be adopted, but hadn't known the reason. Apparently, the birth had been a surprise.

Then I came to the end.

That was it? I'd made a deal with HYDRA for just that? They hadn't included anything about anything else? Or they hadn't want me to know?

Of course they hadn't. Why would they?

I knocked it onto the ground in frustration. Three years, and Ivy Williams still acted like an idiot. I still followed the same impulses and made the same stupid mistakes. Why did I do that?


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, narrator is switching over to Ariel now.

I had been staying in New York at Avengers Tower for the last week. After falling onstage and spraining my leg, my brother had suggested that I take some time off to heal.

So I had been in New York, spending time there. I went to see a couple Broadway shows and did all the touristy stuff that people do in New York.

I was on my way back from watching _Wicked_ when my cell phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hi, Ariel," said Natasha. "We need you to come back to the tower right away. Clint's been shot."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"He should be, if we get him back in time."

"I'm on my way."

My ankle had mostly healed and I practically ran the rest of the way to the Tower.

I got there just as they were landing and loading him off.

"Is he going to be okay?" I repeated.

Natasha nodded. "Dr. Cho has that new machine, remember? He'll be fine."

Yes, the one that made skin cells. Only in a comic book universe...

They rolled Clint past me. I wanted to go after him, to ask if he was okay, but I'd just be in their way. He'd be fine.

Maria Hill came past us, into the Quinjet.

"All set up Boss."

"Actually, he's the Boss," said Tony, gesturing at Cap. "I just pay for everything and design everything, make everyone look good."

"And you do it really well," I said, walking in after her. "Hi. How did it go?"

"We recovered the scepter."

"Excellent." I guess the team would be splitting up now... why does everything have to end? I hate endings.

Still, I'd see them again, right? I belonged to this universe now. It was my world. A world where I had family.

I followed them back inside.

Natasha was waiting outside the infirmary, waiting for them to let her in to see Clint.

"I guess the team won't be together anymore," I said.

"There's still a few more days until we officially disband."

"If... if _she_ was still around, I would know what was going to happen next. I can't stand not knowing." I used to think nothing is worse than knowing and being unable to stop it. Now I think not knowing is worse. The dread and anticipation... I think that's worse.

"If Ivy was still around, a lot of things would be different."

"You used to teach her, didn't you? You would stop in and give her lessons once a week or something?"

"When I wasn't away, yes. When we let her go, S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted someone to keep an eye on her, help her build connections with them. I took a look at her history and offered. You knew each other for a while."

"Sort of. We met in Kindergarten, but we never got to know each other. Then we both started ballet at the same time, but she advanced beyond me and we were put in different classes. After that, we joined the same choir and just never talked."

"Yes, the ballet. There was a few things about that which were strange. I talked to her instructor once, and he said she was one of the best students, but that she quit suddenly and no one knew why."

"Well, she never exactly sat me down and told me, but between me and Carmen we have our suspicions. Since Ivy and nearly everyone else involved is... deceased, I don't think she'd mind. Ivy actually hated dancing. Her parents put her into it when she was six and wouldn't let her quit. When she was fourteen, I think, Carmen and her were part of a performance of _Swan Lake_ or something. I was sick for a while and couldn't go. She fell onstage. She wasn't hurt, but the day after, she came into the school and announced she wasn't coming back ever. She'd been doing badly and been unable to focus on anything lately, and Carmen said she'd been just waiting for it to happen. She'd never really enjoyed dancing anyhow. Unfortunately, it turns out she hadn't told her parents about wanting to quit and had done it on spur of the moment frustration without asking them."

"Sounds like something she'd do."

"I don't know much about what happened next. All I know for certain is that they didn't take well to the whole thing. I think they wanted her to be a ballerina. They were always really into the arts. Her family relationships weren't that stellar, as you might have noticed."

"Them throwing her out of the house was a dead giveaway."

Then they'd all been murdered. All except her brother. I hadn't heard anything from him since, he was probably hiding out. Come to think of it, I hadn't heard much from anyone since that. Edward was searching for a college to attend, Miranda was saving money to go on a trip to London and planning to study English Literature, Jack was going to college already, Carmen was getting ready to attend ballet school here in New York... and what was Sharon up to? No one seemed to have heard anything from her since she moved.

As if someone had read my mind, my cell phone rang. Strains of "Waltz of the Flowers". Carmen. "I should take this. I've been here for a couple days and I haven't visited Carmen yet." Carmen was at the school for a couple days, checking things out.

I walked away and answered. "Hey, Carmen. How's New York?"

She burst into excited chatter about the school, the instructors, and the other students she'd met, then a brief pause. "Oh, are you going to be at prom?"

"Wouldn't miss it." It was the same night as the big Avengers party, but like I said, I wouldn't miss it. "You got a date?"

"No, not really, but I have promises of a few dances from the guys who go to ballet with me. You?"

"Edward."

Silence. "What about..."

"As friends. Strictly friends. Do you think Ivy would want all the guys in school who liked her to lay off dating?"

"Since that would be pretty much all of them, no. But..." Carmen hesitated. "Too soon?"

It had been a year already since Ivy died. "As _friends_. Despite what Tumblr and the internet will have you believe, I am _not_ madly in love with Edward. We have no romantic tension – it's called _acting_. Actually, we don't really have any tension. Usually."

Silence for another moment.

"Let's not talk about this right now. Sorry. It's just that it hasn't been very long."

"Okay. I do get where you're coming from, just so you know. See you at prom?"

"See you at prom."

I hang up.

"You can see him now," said Dr. Cho.

Natasha and I entered the room.

Clint was awake, with the machine fixing his injuries.

"Isn't modern technology wonderful?" I said.

"Ariel?" said a voice from nearby.

I turned around to see a familiar face I'd _never_ expected to see here. "Jack? What are _you_ doing here?" 

Jack grinned. He crossed the room, using his crutches. "Internship. Of sorts. It's complicated. I just got here about five minutes ago." He gave me the best hug he could while still holding onto his crutches.

"How's the leg?"

"Getting better as long as I do what Mom tells me to do." He greeted Natasha and Clint.

"Internship?" asked Natasha.

"I'm not sure what all it entails yet, I haven't really started yet. Basically, I think he wants a helping hand for him and Dr. Banner on some project he's working on. Someone who understands enough to help with little things, but doesn't understand enough to tell anyone specifics."

"Doesn't understand? You're a genius, Jack."

"Genius or no, a lot of this will be beyond my levels of understanding. Being a genius doesn't mean I know everything."

We chatted a few more minutes, then he left.

"Who is that?" asked Clint.

"Jack Lewis. Ivy's friend? He's dating Miranda Pond?"

He relaxed slightly. "Speaking of your male acquaintances, when am I going to meet your singing teacher?"

"It's not quite that simple, Clint. He doesn't want people to know who he is, and I need to... warm him up to the idea of telling someone. I'm sorry, but I keep my word."

I left quickly, climbing back to my room.

My hand mirror still lay on the table next to my bed.

"Miss Dalton," said JARVIS, "I know you've forbidden me to tell him anything, but –"

"I _will_ tell him, JARVIS. In my own time, when I've warmed him up to the idea. In the meantime, you are forbidden to tell him or hint at it in any way."

JARVIS went silent.

I sang a sequence of notes and pressed a jewel on the mirror.

Erik – you may know him as the Phantom of the Opera – sat on the other side.

It's a long story. No, seriously, it's two of these stories long. I'll explain it all in the story later, if you're patient, otherwise read the rest of this series.

"I've been waiting for you, Ariel." There was a brief pause. "I trust there was a good reason. We will begin with your scales today."

Piano notes sounded and I began to sing, going up and down.

It would take rather a bit of warming up for both of them.

Jack narrating now.

The whole internship thing was sudden. One day, I was just minding my own business, doing stuff at college, and the next day I got a call saying that Tony Stark wanted me for an "internship".

When I talked to him on the phone, he said there was a project going on that he needed multiple people to help with. Presumably, he wanted a new set of eyes. And I strongly suspect that he thought that, if Ultron was going to be a problem in the movie universe, I would tell him. Honestly, I think that's the main reason I was there. Just because Ivy was dead, though, didn't mean the non-interference policy was.

Mr. Stark explained the concept of Ultron to me as he showed me around the lab.

"You want a peacekeeping robot that's job is to protect humanity?" I asked, as if I didn't understand perfectly. "Sounds like something out of a movie. A comic book movie, even." And we all know how this kind of thing works out in the movies.

Seriously, what was Mr. Stark thinking?

They put me to work right away as their project commenced.

My duties turned out to mostly consist of minor stuff. It was mostly just getting them things they needed and keeping them supplied with coffee. Seriously, there was a _lot_ of coffee involved.

Ariel stopped in once, blissfully unaware of what Ultron was or would become. She didn't ask what Mr. Stark was working on, but instead handed me her cell phone. "Miranda has something to say to you. Can you spare him for a moment?" 

Mr. Stark nodded.

I took the phone. "Hey, Miranda. Is something up?"

"You have a way out that night?"

"Yes, of course. It's prom and I promised to take you, I made sure to arrange for that night off. I'll be there well in advance, promise."

"Take care of yourself."

"Same to you."


	3. Chapter 3

Ivy here.

I'd never really cared about prom, to be honest. It was just a fancy dance which girls agonized over for months. Not my style. Besides, finding a date was pain in the neck. There were far better ways to spend money.

Prom was early, in May (that's the way my school does things, it's complicated). It was my birthday. I was eighteen, home alone with my son. I had bought a cupcake, lit it with a single candle, and eaten it. The extent of my birthday celebrations.

Pathetic, I know. I was tired. And frustrated.

Carmen called me the night of the prom, excitedly chattering about her dress and makeup and her new ballet school.

"You know the Avengers party is tonight?" she said after a pause.

"Yeah. All I can say is that I don't plan to be anywhere near it. I've barricaded myself into my apartment, me and Phillip, and we have cut off all forms of communication or access except for this cell phone."

"Wow."

"Well, I want to have a peaceful evening."

"Don't blame you. Oh... did you hear about Edward?"

"Is he okay?"

"Yes... but he's going to the prom with Ariel."

"Oh."

"Doesn't that bother you?"

I wasn't jealous. Ariel wasn't after him romantically. If she really was, she would be more sensitive about taking him to prom. I had nothing to fear from her. "Carmen, I have, for the moment, effectively told him that we can have a relationship only under circumstances which will almost certainly never occur. Until I have worked all of this out, it would be wrong to stake some kind of claim on him. I can't turn a guy's affections down then get mad when he takes a girl to a dance which I won't be attending anyhow." My jealousy would be misplaced there.

"How... sensible of you. Pia turned down a guy once, then had a screaming fit when he asked out another girl."

"Isn't Pia fourteen? A little young for dating?" I face palmed. "I can't believe I just said that..." Eighteen and I sound like I'm forty. Then again, a lot of things I believe are considered old fashioned.

"Pia _is_ too young for dating. She's not allowed to." There were sounds of shouting on the other end of the phone. "Ja, Pia, du _bist_ zu jung!" ( _Yes, Pia, you_ are _too young!_ ) "Sorry, I need to go. Have to start putting my makeup on. My date will be here soon."

We said our goodbyes and I hung up.

Prom. Ah, prom. Something normal girls did. Something girls who didn't teleport between universes did. I missed being one of those girls.

I walked to my closet and pulled it open, digging through what I had on hangers.

In the back hung my one formal dress. It was dark blue, with sparkles covering the top and expanding onto the skirt, scattered like stars on the night sky.

Funny how time has a way of changing your opinions about things.

At fifteen, I would have laughed at the idea of being sad about not attending prom. Now, at eighteen, I wanted it so much. Just one night of things being the way they used to. Boys hitting on me and asking for dances, me rolling my eyes and smiling at their attempts to be charming. The ways things used to be.

And why should anyone have to know that I was there? A wig, my makeup, my one pretty formal dress. No one would suspect anything. The school was easily big enough that no one knew who everyone was.

I pulled the dress off the hanger and walked to the phone.

Three minutes later, I had a baby sitter for Phillip and was getting my dress on.

It was a horrible decision, really, to attend my prom. It was selfish, and stupid, and impulsive, and a bunch of other things. I knew it was, even as I applied my lipstick and blush. I just couldn't bring myself to care.

I lingered over my wigs before selecting a dark brown one. When people talk about what they remember about me, they mention my red hair. Brown hair looked alright on me and eliminated one of my most obvious features.

The babysitter arrived promptly and I teleported to my school.

The prom was about what I'd expected. Our school dress code is a little... loose, and a good many of the girls had taken advantage of that.

I glanced around, looking for my friends.

In the corner, I spotted Miranda and Jack. Neither was a particularly adept dancer, but they were obviously enjoying themselves. Miranda was dressed in a dark blue dress, and she'd straightened her hair, which was usually curly. Barefoot, they were about the same height, but the high heels of her shoes made her taller than Jack.

They were absolutely _adorable_ together.

In the center of the floor was Ariel. Ariel had always been the type to dress in an attention grabbing manner and she'd outdone herself tonight. Her dress was a bright, attention grabbing shade of pink, with an enormous skirt with a diameter that probably rivaled her height. Granted, she's only four foot eleven. Sorry, four foot eleven and a half inches. Can't forget that half inch, can we? Anyhow, it was a dress that only Ariel could have pulled off.

She was with Edward, dancing. Both of them were very good, and had plenty of eyes on them.

Carmen stood on the side. She wore exactly the kind of dress I would have expected – feminine, lacy, and high waisted.

I walked over to her. "Lovely evening, isn't it?"

She stared at me for a moment, clearly not recognizing me with the wig and the makeup. "Yes, it is. Nice dress... sorry, but your name slips my mind."

"Irene," I replied. "Irene Ward."

Carmen's eyes widened. "Ivy?"

"In the flesh."

"Not funny! Are you insane?"

"Probably. How's your evening so far?"

She grabbed my arm and towed me out of the room, outside, onto the grass. "Have you lost _all_ of your sanity? Everyone's here tonight, I told you they would be."

"I know. Hence the wig and the makeup. You didn't even recognize me until I told you who it was!"

Carmen shook her head. "Dummkopf. You're one of the craziest people I've ever met."

"I'm not at the top of the list?"

"Only because I have Pia as a sister. Plus some of my cousins are... what's the phrase you Americans use?"

"Off their rocker?"

"Something like that. Anyhow, _you've_ completely lost your head, coming here tonight."

"You mean my mind?" I understood what she meant, but it was a weird way to say it.

Carmen released a shriek of frustration. "I'm so angry you're making me forget how to speak English! And I've been fluent in it for five months! I means days! I mean years! I haven't made a mistake like that one since I was _nine_!" She released another shriek of frustration.

There was a sudden sound of something zooming past our heads. I couldn't make out quite what it was, but I thought it looked like an Iron Man suit.

Carmen's face went white as a sheet. "Ivy... please tell me there's an explanation for that."

I shook my head.

Six more zoomed in.

The doors burst open and screams sounded.

"They can't be here for me," I said. "I'm dead. According to all forms of records and information online, Ivy Williams is dead. There's no way Ultron could know otherwise.

"That means..." Carmen said something in German I didn't understand. "Us."

Carmen, like nearly all the other girls that night, wore heels and a long dress. It did absolutely nothing to impede her sprint across the grass.

Kids poured out of the doors, screaming. Gunshots sounded inside.

I refused to teleport away, instead getting caught up in the mad scramble, searching for anyone who they'd be after.

I spotted Edward and fought my way through the crowd to him, grabbing his hand. "Come on!" I said, pulling him out of the crowd. "Where is everyone?"

He stared at me.

I yanked the wig off.

"Miranda and Jack are already out, I saw them go out the other door. Ariel too. Carmen..."

"Already gone."

It was then I realized his hand was sticky, and his jacket was stained with blood.

My heart plummeted into my toes. "Edward..."

He collapsed against me.

"No you don't," I muttered, dragging him along with the crowd. "Stay with me, Edward, or I'll time travel back to this moment and slap you for it!"

The Iron Legion were flying overhead, shooting into the crowd.

There was no way I could get everyone else together, and Edward was already bleeding out.

I ran, dragging him along behind me, into a patch of trees, and through the trees into a back alley shaded by them. Edward was little more than dead weight by now – still breathing, but in need of medical attention.

"Can't go to a hospital, they'd find us there," I said. "Your house isn't safe either, and it's too far anyhow." I thought long and hard for a moment.

There was one place left to go.

Somehow, I managed to drag Edward down a few streets, to an abandoned street with few cars.

I managed to drag Edward up to one of them, one with a white car in front.

The light in the living room was on. Good. He usually stayed up late, composing.

I banged on the door as loud as I dared.

No answer.

I rang the doorbell three times.

This time, the door was opened.

My brother stared down at me and Edward, both of us in formal clothing, covered blood.

"I didn't know where else to go, Ryan. Edward's been shot. Can I stay?"

He stared at me for a long moment. "You're dead. This is a nightmare. You're dead."

"No. I lied. It was me in that hospital room. With the baby. Please, Ryan. Let me come in."

He kept staring. "Well, if it is a dream, it might ease my guilt. Come in." He swung the door wide.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone.**

 **First off, thanks for all the follows and favorites and reads! They fuel how fast this story is updated and written.**

 **On the subject of updating... the thing I was storing this story on suffered an unfortunate accident. I only have a few chapters left. Hopefully I'll be able to retrieve the stuff off of it. If not, don't expect quick updates. I'll do my best.**

Ivy here.

I shoved past Ryan into the house, lowering Edward onto the ground.

"I'll call an ambulance." He moved toward the hall phone.

"No. No one can know we're here." I removed Edward's jacket as gently as I could.

"What, aside from being alive, you're a doctor now?"

"You're not helping, Ryan." The bullet hadn't hit him in the chest, thank God. It had hit him in the shoulder. "Look, I need you to do exactly what I say." I gave him instructions about what to do – I'm not a doctor, but I do have some idea of how to keep a person alive until a doctor arrives (I've taken first aid classes). Granted, I'd never tried it before...

I ran outside and set my teleporter.

A moment later, I stood inside a dark hallway, at the door of an apartment. I banged on the door.

There was silence for a long, horrible moment.

Then Dr. John Watson appeared.

He stared at me for a moment. "What happened?"

"My friend was shot. I need you to come with me, right now."

"Let me guess, can't get to a hospital?"

I shook my head.

"Give me a moment." He left the door open and headed into the apartment. "What happened?"

"Gunshot wound to the shoulder. I think there was an exit wound, but it was dark and hard to tell and there was blood –" I caught my voice rising and took several deep breaths. "Exit wound. Bleeding heavily. I had to drag him to my house. Conscious when I left, about a minute ago."

He reappeared with a bag in his hand. "Let's go."

I grabbed his arm and reset my teleporter.

A moment later, we were back in my house.

Edward still lay on the hall floor, Ryan pressing a cloth against his chest.

I reached up and flicked the light on as Dr. Watson bent down to examine him.

"Is there anything you need?" I asked.

He gestured at Ryan and told him to get some things. "You stay there," he ordered me.

I took a few steps into the living room and sank down into a chair, pulling the cord to close the curtains.

Jack here.

When the robots burst into the room, firing, we were among the lucky.

Miranda and I had chosen to dance in the corner of the room rather than mingle. I can't dance that well, and it's just embarrassing.

When we saw the robots, we made a break for the doors, pushing through them and sprinting out into the soccer field.

One of the robots flew overhead, firing.

Miranda grabbed my hand, pulling me off balance into the dirt.

My nose hit the grass with a crunching sound. Broken.

I scrambled up and kept running.

"Have any ideas?" I asked.

Miranda stopped suddenly and pulled something out of her dress.

I recognized it a second later as some kind of taser – one which I had modified for just such a situation.

She fired it and hit the robot.

It sparked and convulsed for a moment. Then it went dead and hit the ground.

"Nice aim."

"Nice design."

She aimed again and took out another one.

I stared at her. "Why did you even bring that to _prom_?"

"Because you never know what can happen. I went on a _choir retreat_ and met a superhero in the woods."

I cringed inwardly. Oh, yeah.

"Don't see any more." Her face was white. "I just destroyed two of Tony Stark's Iron Legion."

"When I design a gadget, it _works_."

One of the robots' eyes lit up.

"You think it ends here?" asked Ultron's voice.

Miranda walked toward it. "No, I don't. I think it's only the beginning, you psycotic malfunctioning Starkbot."

Had I heard that right? Miranda mouthing off? It truly _was_ the end of the world. Usually that was me or Ivy's department.

"It's only the beginning. You'll send more. And I'll destroy them all too. You were willing to shoot a bunch of people because of somebody who's already dead and a couple of people who weren't going to do anything to stop you."

"It was too great a risk. You kids –"

Miranda lost it. "We are _not_ children. We might both be seventeen, but we are not children in any meaning of the word. If you know anything about us, you might as well know that."

Ultron was silent for a moment. "You might as well surrender now. It will make everything easier for you."

"Whatever." She shot the thing again.

The eyes went dead.

I just stared at her. "That was... what did you just do?"

"I'm not quite sure." She tucked it back into her dress.

"You're amazing."

"Aren't you sweet? You know, three years ago, I would have laughed at something like this. Now, I have to plan in advance for it. And just when you think it's over... we were all out of that energy. All that ability to travel between universes. We were done. Why now? Ivy's dead."

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "We can do it one more time."

People were crowding around us, keeping their distance from the robots.

"What happened?"

Miranda just shook her head and started crying. Tears streaked down her face and the only sound she made were choking, incoherent sobs.

She turned to me, quirked up the side of her mouth, and winked.

Crying. A surprisingly effective way to avoid having to answer difficult questions. Sadly, guys can't quite pull it off the way girls do.

I glanced back. "I... didn't do anything. I don't..." My words came out disconnected, as the reality of what had nearly happened settled in.

I pulled Miranda in a little closer. She buried her face in my jacket.

"Did anyone see what happened?" I called out.

There was a consensus of head shakes and quiet "no"s. Thank God.

Sirens sounded nearby.

"Is that something you made?" asked a voice.

"NO, I DID NOT CREATE A STUPID MURDERBOT!" I yelled. "Seriously, how idiotic do you think I am?!"

The crowd went silent.

"Sorry."

Miranda pulled away, scrubbing away the tears. "Is anyone hurt?"

She began sorting out everyone who had been hurt, going inside herself to find two people who'd been hurt.

I stayed outside, doing my best to check for injuries, using what I'd learned from Mom (a doctor).

After moving out one of the injured completely on her own, she sank down on the grass. Her blue dress was splattered in blood.

Her face was paler than before. Her hands were scarlet. Several smears of blood distorted her makeup – which had run and was all over her face.

She leaned over suddenly and threw up.

I grabbed her hair and pulled it off her face until she was done.

"Stay there," I said. "You've done enough for one night. More than enough."

"Edward's missing. And Carmen. You don't suppose..."

"No. We would have found them then. And I saw Carmen going out the doors a few minutes before, with... somebody. I'm not sure who. She probably just ran home or something, she lived near the school."

"I'll call her house – but then, she wouldn't answer the phone, probably. Actually, they probably don't know about her, so she's fine."

Ariel appeared a moment later. Her face was red and tear stained, and her skirts were ripped up.

"Has anyone seen Edward?"

I shook my head.

Miranda shrugged. "Mabe he's with Carmen – she was outside, I'm pretty sure she got away." Her phone buzzed. She pulled it outside. "Yes, she did. She just texted me."

Ariel knelt down in the grass and started bawling. "That makes three."

"Three what?"

"Edward still missing. And there was..." she took a shuddering breath. "A girl from my biology class. And Meg."

"Meg?"

"The girl who played Meg with me. In that musical. Both dead."

Because of us.


	5. Chapter 5

Ivy here.

It was a long night, but by the time dawn came, Edward was stable. Stable meaning that he wasn't in risk of bleeding out for a while. He still really needed better medical attention.

I took Dr. Watson home.

After that, I sank onto a couch across form my brother.

"So... that was you? When I was in the hospital? After Mom and Dad..."

I nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't have any idea about what was going to happen."

"And that kid. The baby." 

"Is my son. Phillip. You're an uncle, Ryan."

"Do I want to know how that happened?" His gaze fell to my hand, where I used to wear a purity ring.

"Let's just say that it wasn't my idea and leave it at that."

He shook his head. "You're right, I don't want to know. Why did you tell everyone you were dead?"

"It's kind of embarrassing... the Doctor pulled me out of S.H.I.E.L.D. after I had a little accident. _He_ told everyone I was dead and set me up on a different planet."

"A different... planet." He groaned. "You really hid a lot from us."

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I should have been more honest with everyone from the beginning."

"Sorry?" he echoed. "My parents are dead."

"'Your' parents?" I snapped. "Their knowing made no difference. I'd do anything to change what happened. I only found out a day later."

He avoided making eye contact.

"I'm sorry, Ryan. I made a mistake – a lot of mistakes – and I need your forgiveness."

He looked straight up at me. His mouth opened, then shut.

He got up and left, back into the kitchen.

"Give him time," said Edward from his position on the floor.

I doubted that time would change his mind.

Ariel here.

It was about dawn when my brother showed up.

I didn't see him at first. I hadn't moved from since I'd first sat down and had fixed my eyes on the grass.

"Ariel? Are you okay?"

I looked up to see him. "I'm fine. Have you heard anything about Edward?"

"No."

"That was Stark's Iron Legion."

"Yes. A... virus got into it. I need you to come with me, you and everyone who knows about Ivy. We need to go, right now."

I nodded. "Yes. Okay."

Jack appeared on his crutches.

"How did you deal with the Iron Men?" asked Clint.

"I didn't do anything. They just fell out of the sky."

"Fell out of the sky?"

"I'll tell you when we're not surrounded by eavesdroppers," muttered Jack.

"What about Edward?" I asked.

"We have no idea where he is. We'll have to go without him."

At that exact moment, my cell phone rang. Carmen.

I excused myself to answer it. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Shaken up, but I think I'll live. I some some good news for you."

"Even mildly worse news would make my day."

"Edward's here. He showed up about ten minutes ago."

I nearly dropped the phone. "He's... alive?"

"Alive and stable."

" _Stable_?"

"Oh... Edward was shot. But he's going to be okay."

"Is anyone else home with you?"

"It's just me and Pia, everyone else is in Germany. There was a family reunion. We stayed behind."

I pulled the phone away from my ear for a moment and explained to Clint what was going on.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief.

Miranda appeared. "Hey, I've been trying to call Sharon. Does anyone have her new number?"

I shook my head. "I haven't heard from Sharon since she moved away. She's withdrawn from social media and I can't find her phone number or email address or anything." 

"Weird. Well, I'll keep trying. It's like she disappeared off the face of the planet or doesn't want to be found or something..."

I returned to the call with Carmen. "Look, we're coming to get you. Lock the doors, stay away from windows, don't let anyone in but me."

"I can't leave my little sister here alone, Pia would either have a guy over or burn the house down. Possibly both. Besides, Ultron wouldn't be after me. There's no records of my ever being involved with Ivy. She made sure of that."

"You think you can avoid all of this?"

"No. But the fact still remains I can hardly hire a babysiter to take care of my fourteen year old sister, I can't leave her alone, and I can't take her with me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of things here."

"We'll talk more when we come."

As it turned out, she still refused to budge, even with Clint's urging.

"I won't leave Pia alone, and that's final," snapped Carmen. She sank down into a chair at her kitchen table.

"Carmen, don't be ridiculous. It's safest for you."

"I know what I'm doing," she insisted.

Her sister Pia appeared from the doorway. "Carmen? Mama und Papa haben angerufen. Sie werden kommen." ( _Carmen? Mom and Dad called. They'll coming._ )

"Danke. Gehst du bitte nach oben." ( _Thanks. Please go upstairs_.)

"Warum?" ( _Why_?)

"Geh. Jetzt." ( _Go. Now_.)

"Du bist f _ür etwas die Verantwortung haben nicht." (_ _ _You're not in charge__ _.)_

"Ich bin eigentlich f _ür etwas die Verantwortung haben._ Halt der Mund und geh!" ( _I actually am in charge. Shut your mouth and go_!)

Pia glared at her and climbed the stairs.

Carmen groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"Is she always like that?"

"Only when she's being polite. She's fifteen and behaves like she's four. _Now_ do you see why I need to be here until my parents get back? After they come, I'll happily go, but there's no way I'm leaving her in the house alone. She's liable to blow the house up. Look, I just had a very traumatic experience and I want to be left alone. Okay?" Her eyes watered.

"Okay," I said. "Fine. Call us if you change your mind."

"I will." 

We left.

Carmen narrating here now.

I waited for five minutes after Ariel left, then called Pia down again.

We slapped high fives. "You really can be a brat when you want to be one," I said. "Didn't know you had that in you."

"I took drama that one year, remember?"

"You failed."

She blushed. "I told you that teacher hated me."

I gave her a hug. "I owe you."

"I still don't get why you didn't want to go with them."

"I wanted to stay uninvolved if possible. Now, let's start that brittle I promised."

"But they said you won't be able to help being involved. What's going on, Carmen? All of this is scaring me."

"It's nothing for you to worry about. I promise." I walked over to the kitchen cupboards and started pulling out ingredients. "Can you get the saucepan please?" Honestly, I thought that if I stayed here and kept my head down, I _could_ keep out of everything. Jack's done it by being in a different country and joining very late, why couldn't I?

"That guy... he looked like Hawkeye." 

"Really? I thought Hawkeye had lighter hair."

"Yeah, I guess so." Pia shrugged.

I breathed an inward sigh of relief.


	6. Chapter 6

Ariel here.

Our arrival at the tower was greeted by Dr. Banner rushing out to help us get Edward inside.

We all went upstairs to the destroyed area where the party had been.

"Is anyone else hurt?" asked Clint.

Jack rattled off a very medical sounding answer that I believe approximated to "we're all just traumatized, but thanks". I guess he learned that from his mom?

"Now, can anyone explain what happened?"

Jack did, including the bit about how Miranda had dealt with the robots.

"How and why did you design something that powerful?"

"The how is easy, I'm a genius. I didn't know it was strong enough to cause one of those to malfunction, though – nice to know it can though. The why... because I could. I wanted something powerful enough to do that if I needed it to."

Clint addressed Miranda. "And why did you have it with you?"

"Because I try to be prepared for everything."

"Including murderbots showing up at your prom?"

Her face tinged slightly red. "Stranger things have happened. Paranoia is only paranoia when you're wrong. And I wasn't wrong, was I?"

Clint conceded her the point with no further comment.

"I don't understand," I said. "Why did Tony's Legion attack us?"

"Does the word Ultron sound familiar to anyone?"

Jack and Miranda raised their hands in unison.

"And you didn't warn us?"

"Spoilers!" said Miranda in a weird British accent.

There was a long silence, broken only by Jack's hand slamming into his face.

"Wrong time for a _Dr. Who_ reference."

"Seriously?" asked Clint.

"Ivy had the right idea. Bad things happen whenever someone tries to change time."

Clint groaned. "Wake. Up. There are two of your friends dead. Ivy's boyfriend was shot. This is not 'the right idea' or anything even remotely close to that."

"I'd love to see you argue that out with Ivy." Miranda's tone was soft, but dangerously close to breaking point. "This had nothing to do with our hiding the information. It was because we knew it at all. It actually be safer to keep our mouths shut in this case."

This was a side of Miranda I'd never seen. Ivy had rubbed off on her.

Clint glared at her.

I thought now would be a good time to intervene. "Clint, I think everyone just needs to take a break for a little while. We're all exhausted."

He nodded and withdrew.

"Where did _that_ come from?" I asked Miranda. "I have no idea what you're hiding – it's probably better that you do – but you've never done that. Ivy did that all the time, but..."

"I'm sick of this. I want to go back to being a normal girl who does normal things and whose boyfriend doesn't get shot by crazy Russian spies!"

Dottie shot Jack. Right.

"Listen. Let's go up to my room. We can sleep in there for a few hours."

I led the way up to my room and laid out my blankets on the floor for Jack and Miranda.

As I did so, I began to sing "I've got No Strings" from _Pinocchio_.

"Stop it!" screamed Miranda. "Stop it!"

I stopped. "Yeah, you definitely need sleep. Just a minute." I dug through the drawers of my bedside table and pulled out a bottle of sleeping meds. Don't ask. "Here."

Yeah, yeah, I know, I shouldn't give people things like that.

She took the proffered pills and swallowed them. She lay down and fell asleep in less than twenty seconds.

Jack's eyes widened. "Was that the right dose? Because I've taken sleeping meds and they usually don't work quite that fast."

"She was having trouble staying awake on the way here, remember? The pills were just to make sure she slept for a long time. She needs it."

Edward here.

These following events are deeply embarrassing to relate. Please remember that I was on a lot of pain meds.

I lay on my back on the table, with Dr. Cho checking over all my injuries.

"What did you do after you left your school? Did you crawl to a doctor's office or something? Some one treated you between last night and this morning."

"Well, Jack _does_ live pretty close to the school, and his mom was home that night. But no. She called one that she knows."

" _She_?"

I had a strange feeling I shouldn't say anything, but ignored it. "She. The... girl. She's sooooo pretty."

Dr. Cho laughed. "What did she do?"

"She dragged me to her house and got a doctor."

Luckily, I think she thought I was talking about Carmen.

"Who was the doctor? Because no one told me anything about that?"

"I don't know. It was all kinda fuzzy and she didn't turn the hall light on, they just had a flashlight. She didn't go far... then again, she does have that teleporter..."

Dr. Cho paused for a long moment. "What?"

"Yeah. She showed it to me when I saw her last. It can take her anywhere."

"How much blood had you lost?"

"Too much."

She turned her attention to one of the monitors. "You're lucky. This girl's helping you saved your life."

"Not the first time she's done it."

She looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"They didn't tell you about her? About Ivy?"

"Ivy who?"

"The prettiest girl I've ever met. She..." I didn't finish because Dr. Banner came in.

"How's he doing?"

"Surprising well. Rambling about somebody named Ivy who I think he has a crush on."

"Ivy was an old friend of his."

"Did you know her or something?"

"Somewhat. I only met her a few times." He picked up a tablet off a nearby table. "She was one of the first gifted that S.H.I.E.L.D. found. I don't know all of the specifics, but she said she could travel into alternate universes. It was a big secret at the time, but she's dead now and we've been a little more free with who we tell."

That was wrong. Not dead. "Hey..." I said, starting to push myself up. Pain shot through my shoulder and I dropped down again.

"Alternate universes?" echoed Dr. Cho.

"Nothing to worry about, though. Now she's dead, no one can go back and forth anymore, and they're not peopled by aliens or anything. They all have people like us. She came from an alternate universe, but her biology was the same as ours."

"Not dead," I said. "Not dead."

There was a moment of silence. "What do you mean? We went to her funeral. You were there. Everyone was there."

"Not dead," I stupidly insisted. "She was the one who got the doctor."

Dr. Banner nearly dropped his tablet. "What are you talking about?"

"Not dead," I insisted, and continued to ramble on. "She brought me to Carmen's. Carmen knew too. No one else. Ivy's been alive this whole time. You never saw the body, did you? That's because there was none."

Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho stared at each other for a long moment.

"I think he lost more blood than we suspected," said Dr. Banner.

"What do you think happened?" asked Dr. Cho. "Because we still haven't accounted for who treated him before – he'd be dead by now without that attention."

"No, what was that he was saying?" Black Widow's voice, but I couldn't see her.

"We think was hallucinating earlier, he thinks Ivy was the one patched him up, then took him to where Barton brought him from. Of course, that's impossible."

"Ivy?" her voice cracked slightly. Footsteps, and she leaned over me. "Are you sure it was Ivy?"

Something was wrong. Why shouldn't they know? "Yes."

"I have to look up a few things."

I'm so sorry about that, Ivy. So _very_ , _very_ sorry. So extremely sorry.

 **Guess who learned a very important lesson about backing things up. It's gone. Twenty chapters are gone. Be patient as I upload slowly. I'll do my best...**


	7. Chapter 7

Carmen narrating here.

There are two particular pursuits in life which I find to be theraputic. One of them is knitting. The other is cooking.

After I made the carmels with Pia, I made peanut butter fudge. Then a batch of pink lemonade fudge (I found the recipe on Pinterest and wanted to try it). After that, almond brittle and almond roca. Followed up by a batch of brownies, sugar cookies, and a chocolate cake.

Cooking things that don't have ridiculous amounts of sugar doesn't have quite the same effect.

I ended up using all the sugar in the house and spent the whole day at it. Pia sat at the kitchen table, staring at me worriedly and occasionally helping herself to some of the peanut butter fudge or a cookie.

"You know," said Pia when I slumped down into a chair, "you still haven't used up the wool Aunt Pia sent you from when she was in Scotland."

Yes, Pia is named after her aunt.

I picked up the needles and yarn off the chair next to me and continued work on my current project, a pair of gloves. "I don't have a project that would suit it right now."

There was a knock at the door.

" _I'll_ get it," said Pia. "You can stay here. Maybe fall asleep, if you want."

The funny thing was that I actually _did_ fall asleep – and promptly fell off the chair.

"Are you okay back there?" yelled Pia.

"Just fell. I'm fine."

"Someone's here to see you."

I scrambled up off the floor and picked up my knitting. "Who is it?"

"Someone here about last night."

"Ich will nicht mit jemand sprechen." ( _I don't want to talk with anyone_.)

"I think it's important."

"Wer ist es?" ( _Who is it_?)

"Ich weiss nicht. Ein Mann und eine Frau." ( _I don't know. A man and a woman._ )

Footsteps sounded in the hall. I adjusted my apron and sat up straight, then realized I'd never changed out of my prom dress from the night before.

Maybe not the best thing to have been cooking in.

It was ripped up and dirty anyhow.

The man who stood in the doorway had white hair. Not blond. Just white. He looked far too young to have gained the hair by aging.

Quicksilver.

And here I was in my flour covered dress, with my hair in that stupid 12 year old girl braid.

"I hope we're not interupting anything?"

"Oh, no, no. I've just finished." I stared around for the first time, realizing just how much I'd made. "Peanut butter fudge?" I offered, my cheeks feeling suddenly warm.

He took a piece.

His sister appeared behind him. "We only need a few minutes."

Pia appeared. "Soll ich bleiben?" ( _Should I stay_?)

"Nein." ( _No_.)

She left, heading upstairs. Probably to play video games or watch one of her anime shows.

"You're German?" asked Scarlet Witch.

"Dual citizenship. We moved here was I was eight."

"So it's been ten years, then? If you're graduating this year."

"Eleven, actually. My family travels between the countries and I dance. Between the two I thought it would be better to take an extra year so I could do well in my courses. Would you like to sit down?"

They sat down at the kitchen table.

I didn't know what they wanted – some kind of business of Ultron's, probably. Why were they in the States so soon? My fingers tangled with my knitting.

"So," said Quicksilver, "we need to ask you about what happened at your school."

My entire body tensed. The needles moved faster. "I was outside. I ran. The end. I saw nothing, I'm not even entirely sure what happened. I've been here since, I haven't left." I gestured to the platters of sugar. "I've been engaging in... therapy."

He raised an eyebrow.

"It doesn't work unless it's dripping with calories. I don't know why."

"What were you doing outside?"

"I had pulled a friend aside to talk to her. I saw something going overhead, then everyone was screaming and yelling. I just ran as fast as I could until I got here."

"And what then?"

"I told my sister to barricade all of the doors and windows. Anything that flies can get in through a window and I was panicking."

Quicksilver took another piece of fudge.

Is it just me or is that accent just... wow? I hadn't been in the same room with someone this attractive since I was dragged by Pia to a fan convention (as the person to chaperone her) and met Sebastian Stan.

"Were you injured at all?" asked Quicksilver.

"Just shock." My accent was coming out – it _never_ did that anymore. "I'm fine, thank you for your concern."

He reached out for another piece of fudge, but Scarlet Witch knocked his hand away.

"Help yourselves. I have six siblings. It's too much even for them, and they're not here." There was a short silence. What would be a logical thing to ask? "A bit late in the conversation to ask, but are you with the police?"

Quicksilver shook his head at the same time as Scarlet Witch nodded.

"We're with S.H.I.E.L.D." The lie came out too quickly. "Is that a problem?"

"No. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who wants to figure out what happened is welcome to do so. Two people were killed. One of my friends was shot. That makes me very angry."

"Does the name Irene Ward sound familiar?" asked Quicksilver.

I could listen to that voice all day... "No. Should it?" It was one of Ivy's aliases.

"Rebecca Brown?"

I shook my head. That one I'd never heard before.

"And Ivy Williams?"

Oh no. There was no way to deny it. "Ivy... Williams. Yes. I went to school with her. I took ballet with her. I sang in choir with her. We were chorus girls in _Phantom of the Opera_ together." I allowed myself a small smile at the memory. "Ivy Williams was the most interesting girl I ever met. Sadly, something happened to her last year and she died. Don't know quite what happened to her, though, now I come to think of it. Who are the other girls?"

Quicksilver stood up. "I can't tell you that."

I stood up as well. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

He glanced at his sister, who shook her head.

I thought that meant there wasn't anything else. Haha. I _wish_.

Turns out it meant, "No, there still are things." The fact Scarlet Witch can get in your head had escaped me.

It only occurred to me again when I noticed the funny red threads floating in the air.

"Where were we?" she asked.

I sat down again. "Ivy Williams."

"What do you know about her?"

A funny thing about the mind control she was using – turns out, it reacts funny with the energy that Ivy spreads. I was under mind control... but there was a little hitch.

"Was möchten Sie wissen?" ( _What would you like to know_?)

They stared at me blankly.

"We don't speak German," said Scarlet Witch. "Could you use English, please?"

"Nein, ich kann nicht." ( _No, I can't_.)

Quicksilver groaned.

"Warum sollten wir nicht mal Deutsch sprechen?" ( _Why shouldn't we speak in German_?)

"Can you make her translate herself?"

Scarlet Witch shook her head. "There's something in there that I can't get past." She sighed in annoyance. "I suppose we'll have to use our second plan."

I found myself standing up and walking to the bottom of the stairs. "Pia? I'm going on a walk for a while, all right?"

"Sure you don't want me to come?"

"I need the time alone."

"Okay. When should I expect you back?"

"A couple hours."

"What did those people want?"

"Just a few questions about what happened. All over now. I'll be back soon."

"Okay. Have fun!"

I turned around to face them.

I collapsed and everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8

Ivy here.

While I was ignorant of all this, I teleported myself home. Ryan pretty obviously didn't want any heartfelt brother-sister talks.

Being the Fortune Seller means that I can make a little pocket money. A lot. Okay, I have multiple hiding houses and apartments as hiding places. (Most of them I get for free or very cheap off of favors. A lot of people owe me massive favors, but I'm not naming names.)

The babysitter left and I sat in the main living room, rocking my son back and forth.

The others could deal with things without me. Totally. I'm just the person who runs around and causes trouble because I'm trouble. What good have I done?

I put Phillip down on the couch next to me suddenly and quickly walked across the room to the window. Outside, cars flew past.

Last time I went on that train of thought, it nearly killed me. Well, that's not entirely true... In my reflection, without my usual scarf or high collared coat, I could see the scar across my throat. I'm not proud of that choice. Jemma Simmons saved my life, and luckily Director Coulson talked some sense into me.

Still, the point still remains that I frequently get other people hurt.

I could put myself into this story and try to help, or get pulled into it and try to help.

And it wasn't just me anymore.

I returned to Phillip on the couch.

For those not in the know, I gave birth to twins. The girl, Natalia, went missing from her cradle just after being born, and I've discovered that someone with HYDRA ties took her back to Earth. No one knows what happened after that.

I'll find out, though. If it kills me, I'll find out.

I rocked him back and forth, considering.

The Avengers doubtless knew about the Fortune Seller. Tony certainly did. Hawkeye and Black Widow had met me once.

Perhaps the Fortune Seller should offer them a deal.

I hesitated. Was that my impulsiveness talking? It had already done enough.

No. That was my sensible side.

I picked up the telephone and dialed a number I hadn't called in a long time.

"Hello?" asked a slightly groggy voice. Agent Romanoff – right, not Agent anymore – probably hadn't slept for a while.

"Hello, Black Widow. It's been a while."

"Who is this?"

"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten me."

"The Fortune Seller. You've made a name for yourself since we last talked."

"I try. Listen, I understand you had rather an adventure there last night."

"And what would you know about it?"

"Don't try tracing the call, it doesn't work. Listen, I'm willing to make a _very_ reasonable deal."

"And what would you want in return?"

"Information from HYDRA."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is not HYDRA. Just because I was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent – "

"I'm more than aware of that. I'm also aware you Avengers have been going after HYDRA and will probably have ways to get it from them. If we have a deal, meet me in front of Stark Tower. You, Captain America, and Mr. Stark. 1 o' clock this afternoon. I'll only show up if you do. Oh, and no traps please. This is a business deal." I hung up.

Ariel here.

I slept heavily under the effects of the sleeping meds – which I took as well.

I woke up before either Jack or Miranda.

They were laying on separate blankets, something they had insisted on, and looked like they would be dead to the world for a while. Miranda snored quietly and peacefully.

I got up, dressed, and headed down to the lab where everyone was working.

We had gotten to _Avengers 2_. Of course we had.

"It's a horrible idea," said Tony. "She's just here to cause trouble, it's what the Fortune Seller does. She tells you some things and doesn't tell you others that are more important. She's a psychopath."

"The Fortune Seller?" I asked. "You mean that woman who helped me out after my parents were murdered?"

"You've _met_ that –" he referred to the Fortune Seller with an extremely series of extremely unflattering terms.

Natasha made a small choking sound.

"Yes, and I'm pretty sure she saved my life at least once, so you will please refrain from using words like that to describe her." I glared at him.

"You don't know what she's done."

"I know someone else who's done almost the same things. I didn't notice you swearing at Ivy like that." Granted, she probably would have slapped him for using the words he did. Ivy had never minded telling people to watch their language.

"Ivy had good intentions, at least, and she didn't have a choice."

"How do you know that the Fortune Seller isn't in the same position?"

"Is it Pick on Tony Day?"

Natasha took my side. "You did create a murderbot, think it was funny, and then insult someone who may or may not have done anything to you."

"I have met her, and just because she helped out one person doesn't make her some kind of angel."

Grant Ward helped me too, at the same time. I'm very aware that one good thing doesn't make you a good person. If I ever meet Ward again, I'll be severely tempted to help Simmons carry out her plan. (I've caught up on the series since this incident.)

The Fortune Seller hadn't seemed like that. Director Coulson and his agents seemed to know her and at least be able to tolerate her.

"What kind of deals have you been making, Tony?" asked Natasha.

"I asked for information on this project. She said to go ahead and build it, everything would be fine."

There was a long silence.

Natasha turned and left the room.

I followed after her, my cheeks burning.

"Are you going to meet with her?" I asked.

"Yes – it can't hurt to hear what she wants. I'm not entirely sure what happened with the Ultron Project, but that doesn't sound like the Fortune Seller at all. I know a good many people who've dealt with her and they do say that she often doesn't give them the full story, but that she never lies."

"Sounds like someone else. Do you think there might have been two? Ivy and this other girl?"

"It's always possible, since no one seems to know how she knows what she does."

Ivy here.

Yes, that is true. I did tell Tony Stark that.

I said "eventually" not "immediately". And it did all turn out okay eventually, right? I don't lie, but my wording does get specific sometimes.

I teleported to the top of a nearby building and watched.

My view of the building was obscured by crowds of sightseers and cosplayers.

Black Widow appeared outside first, on the other side of the street.

Then Cap.

After that, Mr. Stark, though judging from his expression he was unhappy with the whole thing.

I appeared suddenly. "Hello again, everyone."

They all jumped.

There was a moment of silence.

"Get it overwith," muttered Mr. Stark. "What lies are you selling this time?"

"I have never lied to you, Mr. Stark. You'll see."

"What are you offering us?"

"I'm offering information. As always."

"What did you did mean 'hello again'?" asked Black Widow.

"I've met some of you before. Though I'm afraid the Fortune Seller has never made your accquaintance, Captain."

I had forgotten how _hot_ New York was in summer. I should have worn a shorter wig, the brown one with the pixy cut. The long hair was – I'm told, lovely – but so hot. Sweat already soaked the back of my collar.

"What do you want?" asked Black Widow.

"It's what you want. I can tell you where Ultron went, and what he's after."

"Or we could just track it down ourselves," said Mr. Stark.

"Or you could take the short route. Believe me, it's quicker."

He called me a _very_ crude word.

"Watch your mouth. You're only here because... you know what, I don't know why. Go, if you want. I don't even care." 

There was a tug on the back of my hair.

I clawed at whatever had caught on it, only for the wig to slide off.

I spun around.

Black Widow held up my wig in her hand. "Seriously? You thought _that_ would fool us?"

Mr. Stark and the Captain stood slack jawed.

"You're dead," said Mr. Stark.

"Yes, I am. I'm a ghost who wears wigs and makeup." I snatched the wig back, my hands shaking now. "How did you guess?"

"Your voice. Your looks. Your clothes. Your word choices. Your specifically similar abilities. The fact that only you and Steve would ever reprimand anyone for swearing. And your boyfriend told me."

"Edward's not – _Edward told you_?!"

"He was on heavy pain medication and didn't have a clue what he was doing. Let's go inside and discuss this further."

I sensed I didn't have a choice anymore.

"May I have the wig back, please? I don't want to tell any more people than necessary just yet."

She gave it back. I pulled it over my hair and walked to the crosswalk.

Mr. Stark just stood where we'd left him, still staring.


	9. Chapter 9

Ivy here.

We walked inside, onto the main floor, and took an elevator up to one of the more empty floors, where only a few scientists were around. Mr. Stark had certainly redesigned things.

"You have a lot of questions to answer. What happened, why did you lie –"

"I did not lie to you, Captain. I didn't _plan_ any of this. I never meant for any of this to happen."

Black Widow gave me a none too gentle shove into an empty room full of science equipment that I can't really describe because I have no idea what it is. "Start talking."

"I joined S.H.I.E.L.D., like I told you. I trained, like I told you. I had that accident with the knife, like you heard. Stupid, clumsy me. And my body was taken off base by the Doctor, my alien friend, in hopes of –" Wait, they didn't know about that. "Uh..." I glanced at Black Widow.

Natasha nodded. We both knew the unspoken words – in hopes of saving the baby. Babies.

"But he had some kind of alien technology on his ship that he used to save my life. Then he told me that he'd told everyone I was dead, and that I had to stay away for a while. The more people who knew, the more dangerous it was for me and them. And a lot of the ways I had to communicate would be dangerous to both parties – turns out, my traveling between universes so often wore a hole in the fabric of the two realities and it needed time to fix itself."

There was a long moment of silence.

"But why now?"

"Because I couldn't avoid these events. It's another movie. And Mr. Stark has messed up _very_ badly."

"Well, that much was obvious."

He had the decency not to protest at this.

"Is everyone here?"

"Do they know?"

"Just Edward and Carmen."

"Carmen? _She_ knows and the others don't?"

"It's complicated."

Mr. Stark appeared in the doorway, his face white. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because it was too dangerous." I recounted my story to him.

"You still should have told us. You could have, in the last few months."

"I needed... the right moment. You would have thought I was some kind of crazy imposter or psycho. Now, with me _not_ telling you, you seem to believe me well enough."

He stopped. "Yeah, how _do_ I know you're not some kind of imposter?"

"Edward will tell you. And Carmen, she knows too."

"I'll go get Edward, then," said Mr. Stark. "And I'll call your friend."

"The others _cannot_ know. Not yet. I didn't tell them and I don't think it's best to let them know _quite_ yet, not until you're satisfied that it's me. Even then..."

Ariel here.

No, they didn't tell us.

We had all holed up in my room and were talking.

"I can't get in touch with Sharon!" said Miranda with frustration. "Has she vanished off the planet?" She slammed her phone down on the ground.

Miranda never acted like this, and it was starting to make me worried.

I reached across to the table and picked up my mirror.

Edward raised an eyebrow at me. Edward was the only person who knew the secret of my mirror, and I was determined to keep it that way.

"When are you going back to perform?" he asked.

"Once this is over, but the sooner the better. I can't stand not being onstage."

"The curse of being a performer, isn't it?" He smiled. "At least you'll never not have a stage. People will always want you."

"I just called Carmen's," said Miranda suddenly. "Pia says that two people stopped by. One was a guy with _white hair_. And now Carmen's gone out for a walk."

The room went still.

There was a knock on the door.

"C-come in," I said.

It was Natasha. "I hate to bother you, but do you mind if we borrow Edward for a minute?"

I nodded. "Yes, yes. Go ahead."

Edward got up.

"Oh, and could you give me your friend Carmen's number? It's important."

I made a small sound in my throat.

"About that..." said Miranda. She explained the situation with Carmen, ending with "We just figured it out a second before you came into the room. We don't know anything for sure – it could all be fine."

"I'll get it checked out, but right now this takes priority."

Edward here.

I met Ivy in the room where they'd had the party.

Black Widow didn't tell me what to expect, or that she was there. Actually, she didn't say a word to me on the way there.

She just led me into the room.

Ivy sat on the couch tranquilly. Her hair was as kept as short as it had been the last I'd seen her, and looked calmer than the last time I'd seen her. Healthier, too.

I glanced from Ivy to Black Widow.

"It's fine, Edward," said Ivy.

I broke into a run, kicking rubble and wreckage from the last night away as I sprinted up the steps.

She stood up from the couch.

I threw my arms around her neck.

She returned the hug.

"I think you get more gorgeous every time I see you," I said. "I love your haircut. How's..." he glanced back at Black Widow. Mr. Stark and the Captain were also there.

"Fine." Phillip spent more time with babysitters than with me, but he was fine and healthy. And I was doing my best to fix that problem.

"And how's..."

"Going badly."

I pulled out of the hug. "I suppose I should just ask a question to make sure it's you. What did I teach you last time I saw you?"

She leaned over and whispered in my ear. "How to waltz. You have a waltz playlist on your Ipod and we danced to it."

"Definitely you." I turned to face everyone. "How long have you known?"

"You just confirmed it for us," said Mr. Stark. "Dr. Banner is just running a test on her blood and DNA."

"You have DNA and blood to run it against? Of course you do." Ivy looked tired suddenly.

I took a moment, drinking in the fact she was back again. There were flecks of blood – my blood – on her face still and she looked like she hadn't slept – she probably hadn't.

"I owe you," I said. "You saved me."

"No, I owe you. They would never have come if I didn't exist."

"Ivy..." Black Widow's voice, clearly displeased.

"Don't worry. I'm past that, but it's still true."

I had missed something, apparently.

Ivy walked away from me, down the steps and back to her. "Don't worry. I'm done angsting about that. Well, mostly."

Black Widow stared at her for a moment. "Please tell me that's red paint on your face and not what I think it is."

"If you think it's blood, it is. Edward's. Yes, I was the one who took him out of the school."

"I guessed."

"You checked the security cameras?"

She glanced at me. "Something like that."

My face burned in embarrassment. Luckily, Ivy didn't seem to notice.

"I'm still here on for business, Agent – I mean – " Ivy's face went red. "Um..."

Black Widow laughed. "Natasha is fine."

"Natasha. Can I have my wig back please?"

She handed it back to Ivy, who pulled it on overtop of her red hair.

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying before, I'm here to offer you a deal." She glanced at Mr. Stark and Cap. "You know how this works usually, Mr. Stark?"

"Tony is fine. And yes."

"The fact is, I need information from HYDRA – Natasha can tell you what about, I'll explain everything later. In return, I can give you information about what's going to happen."

"And we're going to believe everything you say because..."

"Because I would have no reason to lie to you. My disappearing act wasn't my idea, and it was dangerous to come back. I needed a right time to do it, and this was it. There are things going on that you don't know about."

"Then tell us what they are! I can't fix things unless –"

"You can't fix a hole in the fabric of your reality, Tony! I don't care if you're a genius, you can't fix that! Some things _can't_ be fixed – for someone like you, you might not realize that, but it's a reality for me that I have to deal with every day."

I decided now was a good moment to exit quietly.


	10. Chapter 10

Miranda here.

We were, of course, introduced to the Fortune Seller.

Ariel had told us about everything about meeting her months before. We had talked about whether she might know Ivy or have the same abilities, but Ariel didn't know enough, and none of us could find out anything else about her – Google could only provide rumors and speculations. Google doesn't know everything after all, apparently. We're not Ivy – we only have so many people who could help us with that. We did try talking to the Guardians – not Peter Quill and co, Jack Frost and co – but they don't know anything about that sort of thing. We did talk to a few conspiracy theorists, though. One of them said she was a fraud meant to distract from the government's attempts to contact telepathic extraterrestrials, and another said she was a medium from the third inner ring of Mars.

Yeah, I wasn't really sold on either idea.

When we were told we would get to meet her, I though, perhaps we would be able to ask and find out. I never suspected it could be really Ivy in disguise.

I didn't know Ivy even used makeup, let alone that she could use it to make herself look so drastically different. That's something I've added to a long list of things I never knew about Ivy.

The woman I saw was told old to be Ivy. I mean, she didn't look old, but she looked to be in her early twenties at least, and her hair was far too long for it to be Ivy's. Besides, Ivy had once told me that nothing could ever persuade her to go blond. She thought the color made me look ridiculous.

"Hello... Miranda Pond, right?" She shook my hand and gave me a warm smile.

I nodded. "Hello."

Ariel stepped forward. "Remember me?"

"Of course I remember you, Ariel."

"Where's your son?"

The entire room went silent.

"He's at home. I left him with a babysitter this time – it's a bit too dangerous to bring him along."

She introduced herself to Jack and Edward with warm, unrecognizing smiles to both.

Jack eyed her for a moment. "You're the Fortune Seller?"

"That I am." She had a different voice than Ivy's. Sweeter, quieter, with a touch of a British accent.

"You see the future," said Jack.

"True enough."

"How do you see the future?"

"That's for me to know and for everyone else to wonder."

"Are you from England?" I asked.

"No, though I lived there for a while. Just moved back, and it's so very good to be back. You like British stuff?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Your earrings. TARDISes."

"You're a Whovian?"

"I watch it sometimes, yes."

Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner and the Captain had been staring at her ever since her son was mentioned. Agent Romanoff looked slightly curious, but that was all. Thor didn't looked shocked, but certainly puzzled.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Stark?" Her voice had become slightly icy.

He shut his mouth. "Um... no.

"Excellent."

"You're married?" I asked.

"Sadly, no."

Edward made a small choking sound.

"Is there a problem?" asked the Fortune Seller.

"No, no." Edward's voice squeaked a little.

I stifled laughter at the awkward expression on his face. I had a sneaking suspicion that Edward thought her attractive. He certainly had a type – pretty, big blue eyes, a no nonsense personality. Ivy had possessed enormous blue eyes and had been intolerant of nonsense from anyone. And she had been pretty. Gorgeous, in fact. Every guy in school had wanted to go out with her – and the fact she always refused made it just that much more tempting to ask. I often suspected she found the persistence of some of them to be amusing. Edward had been no exception, except for that he'd never asked because he was too shy.

"Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I have some business to deal with." She gave us all a warm smile and walked over to the team.

"Let's take that as our cue to go," said Edward.

Ivy here.

As far as awkward conversations go, the next one was at the top of my list.

"A _son_." Tony stared at me. "Since when, why, and how?"

"Since when? Since last fall. Why? Do you seriously think it was my idea? And how? That's my business."

"And who?" asked Cap. He had known about what happened – what had happened – but he didn't know about Phillip. Or who was responsible.

I could _not_ tell him the truth. "That's my business as well. It's better for everyone if that stays a secret."

"We really don't trust your opinion on that right now," said Tony.

"You trusted me before. Trust me now, or I'll leave you to your own devices, stumbling around blindly in the dark. Believe me, of all the secrets I've kept, this is the one I most definitely _know_ should not get out."

"Was it Edward?" asked Tony. "Your friend? You two spend a lot of time together before you faked your death?"

Seriously? " _No_. Edward has behaved like an absolute gentleman towards me for every single moment that we've known each other. Do you really think it was _my_ idea?"

The implication was obvious.

Tony's face went white.

"It's been dealt with. He's suffered enough – the situation is complicated. Revenge would be... misguided." And besides, I could hardly tell Cap that Bucky had added another crime to his extremely long list. It was under HYDRA's orders. I'm not going to blame the gun, I'm going to blame the person who pulled the trigger. "Now, back to our discussion. You want to know where to find Ultron? I need a promise."

"And what would that be?"

I couldn't tell them about the twins. Not now. "HYDRA's information on me. Everything you can get. And information about someone named Natalia Skye."

Natasha gave me a strange look at the mention of the name.

"And about my family – about Ryan, to more precise – and my friends. You know who all that is. Does that sound reasonable?

They glanced around at each other.

"We have a deal," said Cap.

We shook hands on it.

"You could have just asked us if you wanted it."

"I could hardly have done that when you thought I was dead. That was the point of offering the deal."

"How long was it supposed to be a secret?"

"I didn't have plans. I rely on Jack and Miranda for those, and we hadn't spoken."

"Edward knows," Natasha pointed out.

"I never wanted to stay dead forever. His knowing was my insurance, so that I would have proof when I came back. It apparently worked a little better than I planned."

"You didn't exactly do the greatest job keeping it a secret yourself. I've suspected for months that you were alive."

" _What_?"

"I first started wondering when I met you at the house with Ariel. Your wig was askew and I know when I've trained someone. Your powers tipped us off. When Edward started talking about you being alive, he just confirmed it. I never mentioned it before, though, because I didn't have any proof."

I supposed I should be thankful that everything was out in the open now. It was better, wasn't it? "If you want to find Ultron, go to Wakanda. They're after vibranium."

At that moment, my cell phone rang, playing that song from Pinocchio. I can no longer hear that song without nightmares.

"Excuse me a moment." I walked away and answered it. "Hello, Rebecca Brown speaking."

"Hello, Ivy."

I recognized James Spader's voice. "I... what do you want?"

"I have something that might interest you."

"A lot of people have told me that. What is it this time?"

"Does the name Carmen sound familiar? She's sitting opposite me. You two have quite a history, don't you?"

"Lay a finger on her, Ultron, and I will ensure that you regret it for eternity." Robots don't get eternity, as far as I know, but there must be a way to make something _feel_ like eternity. "I can do that, you know."

"I don't think you'd risk it, though."

"Probably not. What do you want from me?"

"I want a public confession to the world. Everything you are, what you've done. Your name, your address, everything. You come to a location I say and broadcast it."

"And you'll kill Carmen if I don't? How cliché. What would this do for you? Confuse the world so you can carry out your evil plan? No, don't tell me, I don't care. I'm assuming that you've got mind control on her? Nothing I can do? Of course."

"You have five minutes to call this number back. If you don't, I'll kill her."

"Very well then." I hung up.

"What was that?" asked Cap.

"No, please don't talk to me, I have to think, and think hard."

 **Hello, everyone.**

 **Nanowrimo approaches. As I will be participating this year, don't expect too much in the way of updates for a while. Sorry. To be honest, losing all my work has demotivated me in a big way and I've kind of lost a lot of my interest in this story. I will finish it, though, because I have other stories I want to move onto afterwards and I don't like it when people abandon their stories.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi! I'm back after Nanowrimo!**

Carmen here.

I was under mind control for all of this, so my memory is a little fuzzy. I think I can give a pretty good summary, though.

I woke up lying in the back of a quinjet. I sat up, glancing around at the interior. Ribbons of red floated around me still. Pretty. Very pretty.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch sat on the seats, several feet away.

"I was starting to wonder if you'd ever wake up," said Quicksilver. "Do you speak English now?"

"Ich habe Englisch gesprochen seit ich war zehn Jahren." ( _I have spoken English since I was ten years old_.)

"Apparently not." He sighed and walked up to the front of the quinjet. "She's awake and still doesn't make any sense."

A robot appeared.

I jumped up in surprise. "Sie sind Ultron." ( _You're Ultron_.)

"Ja."

He apparently had some kind of translation thing – handy, I suppose. Not so much for me.

"Tell me what you know about your friend Ivy," he said.

Scarlet Witch let out a little groan.

"Can we use that staff? She's exhausted."

"Yes, thank you for reminding me."

Ultron walked to the front of the plane and retrieved the staff.

The ribbons suddenly dropped away.

I blinked and my mind cleared.

Ultron pressed the staff against my chest.

 _Obey your master. Obey obey obey..._

Blue sparked around my chest and a cloud of sparks flew everywhere.

"Is it supposed to do this?" asked Ultron.

"No," said Quicksilver.

 _Obey obey obey..._

 _NEIN NEIN NEIN!_

The blue sparks exloded, sending Ultron flying into the front of the ship and me against the back.

Ultron stared. "How..."

"Ich weiss nicht." ( _I don't know_.) I glanced around wildly, trying to find an escape route – pointless, really, since I had no parachute. There was no way out from up here.

"Calm down," ordered Ultron. "No one –"

I tried to dart past him, which would have been a possibly good idea if Quicksilver hadn't been between us.

He grabbed my arm and wrenched it hard, slamming me down into one of the seats and trying to pin me. I twisted hard to the side, wrenching my arm out of his grip and falling flat onto my back on the floor.

He dropped down, pinning me down. Something sharp bit into the side of my neck.

He pulled out a syringe.

I tried to scramble back up, but my head suddenly felt fuzzy and I fell back onto my elbows. I should have seen that coming.

Stop groaning. One of those jokes is a necessity in any introductory scene to Quicksilver.

Quicksilver laughed and helped me up and into a seat.

My body felt like it was made of lead and my head felt fuzzy. What was that stuff?

"Are you sure that wasn't too much?" asked Quicksilver.

"I was careful," said Ultron. "If she dies, I loose my one piece against the Fortune Seller."

"She was making a deal with Strucker when the Avengers attacked HYDRA."

"What did you think of her?"

"We didn't see much," said Scarlet Witch. "She couldn't have been much older than twenty. Slightly tall. She seemed nice. She knew Pietro's name. She also said we'd find out how she knew things like that in a few days."

"Really?"

I somehow doubt Ultron would be excited when they actually did.

Ultron made his phone call to Ivy.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch looked a little surprised – and slightly unnerved – at the given ultimatum. Apparently, he hadn't mentioned it to them before.

When he hung up, I couldn't stop a tiny laugh from escaping my mouth.

"What's funny?"

"Sie wird nicht es tun." ( _She won't do it_.)

"Why not?"

"Sie ist zu intelligent." ( _She's too smart._ )

"And how do you think she can think her way out of this?"

I didn't know.

Ivy here.

Well, "smart" isn't exactly the right word. A better descriptor would be "crazy".

I'm not particularly smart. However, who needs brains when you've got Miranda and Jack?

I ran along the halls after them, wishing I'd chosen a set of shoes which were easier to run in – for some reason, I'd chosen a set of flats which my heels couldn't stay in.

"JACK! MIRANDA!"

They spun around, staring.

"Um... I have a problem. If you had five minutes before someone you knew was shot, and you had no idea where they were, what would you do?"

They stared at each other.

"I'm going to assume this isn't a hypothetical question," said Miranda. "Do you have any clues to their whereabouts?"

I shook my head. "Couldn't get a trace on the phone."

"Then..." she glanced at Jack, "you have anything?"

"Not that could work in five minutes."

"I have a teleporter," I offered. "And a time travel thing."

"Why didn't you say that before?" asked Miranda. "Do you also have a tracking device?"

"No."

"I do." She dropped a small object into my hand. "Travel back in time and give this to them, then come back."

I obeyed, setting my teleporter and sending myself hours into the past.

I found myself outside the prom. Students ran everywhere, screaming in terror.

I found down the sick feeling in my stomach and ran in the direction Carmen had gone.

I caught up with in front of her door.

"Carmen! Carmen wait!" I shouted as loudly as I dared.

She spun around, face white.

I ran to her and pressed the tracking device into her hand. "Keep this on you at all times. _Do not loose it_."

She tucked it into her bodice. "There." She shoved the door open and slammed it behind her.

I pressed the teleporter and returned to the hallway.

Miranda jumped back and shrieked with surprise when I appeared suddenly. "Ah! Don't do that!"

"Sorry!" I said. "I gave it to her. Now what?"

"Now we track it." Jack had a weird device in his hand. "A gift from Mr. Stark – he designed the tracker."

"How did you get it?" I already had a pretty good guess – Mr. Stark had bugged a set of my earrings in case I was ever in trouble. Jack _would_ take them apart to get the tracker.

"It's complicated. Here's a set of coordinates." He read them off. "Over the ocean. Will that be a problem?"

"I don't care." I entered them in.

"Did you ever meet Ivy Williams?" The question from Miranda was sudden.

I nodded.

"You make me think of her."

"Should that be a compliment?"

"Most definitely."

My cheeks flushed. "Thanks."

Then I hit the teleporter.


	12. Chapter 12

**Merry Christmas!**

Edward here.

So where were me and Ariel during all of this?

We went to go see The Lion King. Yes, I know. World's coming to an end, people dying, robots trying to destroy humanity, and we go to see a musical?

Well, if the world was going to an end, I wanted to see The Lion King first. I'd never seen it before.

It was, of course, wonderful and memorable and incredible. I love how stage musicals released after the movie versions sometimes try to deal with plot holes (like the whole Nala/Scar thing). On one hand, ew. On the other hand, it was a good idea.

We didn't go back to the Tower immediately afterwards, instead staying out in New York and doing a little sight seeing. Granted, we'd seen most of these places already, but you never know when the next chance to sight see will be – or if there even will be one.

We walked through Central Park together. "Your brother doesn't mind you leaving the tower?"

She chuckled. "Clint is my brother and I'm eighteen."

"He didn't want you to leave."

She gave a very unladylike snort. "Of course not."

"He's probably right. Aren't you scared, after what happened?"

"I'm petrified, Edward. I'm so scared I'm going to die. But the fact remains that it is a lovely day, and I will _not_ let Ultron stop me from living my life."

Ariel is easily one of the toughest people I've ever met. Maybe not physically, but in the past few years, she's had multiple upheavals in her life, any one of which would have put anyone in therapy. All things considered, she dealt with them pretty well.

If I'd discovered my brother was a fictional character, been nearly killed several times, and then had my parents shot because of something I couldn't control, I'd probably spend my days curled up in a ball in the corner of my room, angsting and crying.

It just occurred to me how unbelievably pathetic I am as compared to all of Ivy's friends. It's kind of sad, really.

"This is Avengers 2, isn't it?"

I nodded.

"Tell me what happens. You know I won't tell anyone."

I gave her a basic summary.

"Should have known Whedon wouldn't be satisfied just killing Coulson," she remarked when I finished.

I burst out laughing.

It took several minutes for me to stop, and I attracted hundreds of stares.

"So, what should we do?" asked Ariel.

"Get out of New York. If Ultron comes after us, I don't want to be in the middle of a big city. New York's already been destroyed once."

"You're probably right."

"Me? Oh, no. That's Jack and Miranda's plan. We've been preparing for weeks. His mom's coming to New York with a car, and we're going to take it somewhere."

"Wait a second, you told Jack's mom?"

"He was shot in the knee and the shoulder. He's not going to walk properly or use his arm right ever again. It got a little hard to hide it. She deserved to know."

"You have a point."

"Where are we going?"

"We haven't decided that yet. They probably have a set location and four back up locations, just in case."

"Just four?"

"Good point. Probably six."

"When were you planning on leaving?"

"As soon as his mom gets here. We had originally planned to take Jack's car, but it didn't work out that way. Actually..." I checked my cellphone. There was a text. _Mom's here_. "When's the soonest time you can slip away? We're pretty much ready to go."

"We can just stay here and wait for them."

"What about Hawkeye?"

"He'd try to stop me."

"He should know."

"I'll text him and let him know what's going on. It's not a big deal."

I decided not to argue the point. The phrase "stubborn as a mule" does not even begin to describe her.

Ivy here.

The interior of their quinjet was small. About the size of the one they use in the Avengers, I don't know. I wasn't exactly measuring.

Quicksilver reacted first.

There's something that people don't realize about fighting in superhero movies. Just because you can move really fast doesn't mean you can fight really well.

Quicksilver clearly had very little experience with actual combat.

His fist connected with my face, sending me staggering back a step. That was okay. I'd been punched in the face before. Way too many times.

His attempt to run into me and knock me over, not so much. It might have worked if we were outside, but we weren't. At the last second, I stepped offline.

He missed me and slammed into the wall, knocking himself out.

His sister raised her hands, leaving herself in a vulnerable position. Two strikes and she lay on the floor, unconscious.

Seriously, HYDRA. You didn't teach them proper combat skills? An afternoon with Agent Ward would have taught them better.

Oh, wait. Agent Ward isn't really loyal to you any more. Believe me, you haven't lost _anything_.

Carmen sat in one of the seats along the side, slumped over.

Ultron stepped into my view of her. "I didn't think you'd show up in person. I'm honored, really I am."

"I do what I have to. I don't suppose you'd let her go if I asked nicely?"

"No."

"It was worth a try. I won't do what you want. But you won't kill Carmen."

He tilted his head slightly. "Explain why."

"She's more useful as leverage, dead than alive. She knows things that I know, if only you could get her to tell you. So even if I don't do what you ask, you'd be better served to let her live. That is why you are not going to kill Carmen."

"Are you willing to bet on that?"

"I don't bet, I always lose." I channeled my inner Miranda. Miranda, the reasonable one who was always right. "It's completely illogical for you to throw away a potential source of information when the only other one is unreliable."

"What about the others?"

"I am a time traveler, Ultron. You know that, surely. I can simply travel back in time and prevent all of this from happening. I can prevent you from ever being created. Leave them alone, I leave you alone. Do we have a deal?"

Could I teleport past him? No, it would be too close. The risk wasn't worth it.

"You don't kill her and you don't touch anyone. In return, I leave you alone. It's the same deal I make for my other clients. They are all satisified."

"I want information too." He clearly enjoyed his position of power.

I turned slightly so I could see the Maximoff twins. Quicksilver was twitching, probably just waking up. His sister was still out.

I gestured to her. "If you lose, it will be because of her. If you win, it will because of her. Treat them well."

"And?"

There was nothing else I dared tell him. "For what you're paying, that's all you're getting. Let her go, and I can do a lot for you in return."

"I have no way to know whether or not you're making all of this up. I'll keep my insurance until I know."

I was completely done with this guy. Robot. Not-person. Thing. I don't know.

I teleported past him in front of Carmen and grabbed her arm.

A body slammed in my, breaking my grip and sending me staggering away.

Quicksilver smirked. "You didn't –"

"See that coming? I should have."

He looked disappointed at having his catch phrase stolen.

"Snap her neck," ordered Ultron.

"Why?"

"It's all part of your revenge on Stark, I'll explain later."

"Why would I do that?"

"You won't. Because you still want information." This wasn't going to work. It was a stupid idea that had been doomed from the start. "Just remember what I said, Ultron." Actually, the Doctor has set my teleporter so that I _can't_ do things like I threatened. But does Ultron know that? I think not.

I hit the teleporter and again stood in Avengers Tower.

"What happened?" asked Natasha.

"I don't think he'll kill her. For now."

"What's your interest in Carmen?"

I spun around.

Miranda leaned against the wall.

"I have an interest in Ivy's former life. We... I knew her."

"Did you?" She raised her eyebrows. "I've met you before, I know it. Do you have the same powers as Ivy did?"

Miranda was going to figure it out. Why was she so smart? "A lot of it comes from this teleporter. It time travels, too. Like a vortex manipulator."

"Wait, you know the Doctor?"

"We've met a few times. Why all the questions?"

"Because I know there's something familiar about you, and I can't figure it out." She stood up and circled me, scanning me.

I tugged at the light scarf around my neck.

Her face went white. "Are you Ivy Williams?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi. I'm back!**

 **After a period of not writing/lacking inspiration, I intend to update more often.**

Ivy here.

She'd guessed. Of course she'd guessed.

I laughed. "Why would you think that?"

"You talk, walk, and act exactly like she did. I would have to say I knew her better than a lot of other people. You even have the same scars."

I didn't _have_ very many visible scars. Except for the one on my throat, which I always hid. But of course Miranda would have seen it, even if she'd never brought it up.

She grabbed my wig and yanked it off. "You lied to me."

I nodded. "Miranda, I'm sorry."

She punched me in the face and started screaming, fists flying and striking me everywhere at once.

A pair of arms wrapped around her waist, dragging her away.

Jack pulled her out of the room, pinning her arms down, yelling for her to calm down.

He shoved her out of the door, but stayed a moment to look at me. "It really is you." He slammed the door.

Miranda narrating here.

When Jack pushed me out the door, I ran.

Avengers Tower has stairs – many, many flights of stairs – and I was halfway down by the time my head started to clear.

"Wait up, Miranda."

I stopped and leaned against the wall, breathing hard. "How could she do that to us? We stayed by her when not many others would. I did everything I could to help her, at risk to myself. And she just left?" The hand which rested on the railing trembled. I snatched it off.

"Miranda, I know you're upset – and believe me, I am too. Take some deep breaths."

I obeyed. How this was supposed to make me feel better, I don't know. It did make me calmer, though.

When I had calmed down (outwardly) Jack continued talking. "Mom's texted me. We're ready to go. Let's just get out of here. It's dangerous to be here, and I just want to hide for a while."

I nodded. My eyes stung.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"That makes two of us."

Edward here.

We met them outside of Central Park, in the most secluded place Ariel could think of.

Jack's mother was in the driver's seat of the car. She pulled over to the curb and they all got out.

"Alright, Jack. I trust you to come back." She gave him a hug.

Jack glanced over at us, his face slightly red. "I will, Mom. I promise."

"Don't try to run anywhere if you don't have to – actually, don't even try to walk if you don't have to. You're _still_ recovering from that knee injury, and prom didn't help. I knew you shouldn't have gone."

"I'll come back. I always come back. You have the muffins I baked you?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Maps? Cell phones?"

"Mom, people can track cell phones. We're going to ditch them when we get out of the state."

She nodded. "Right. I'm sorry, I forgot. But promise you'll call me and tell me you're safe when you can."

"Yes, Mom." He slid into the driver's seat. "Get in, everybody."

We piled into the car. It had five seats, but Ariel and my shoulders were almost touching, sitting on opposite sides.

Jack's mother watched until we turned a corner and were out of sight.

Where was his dad? I'd never met the man, and I'd never asked about him. I'd been to his house half a dozen times and never even seen a sign of him.

"Okay guys. We have some news for you. Just... try not to freak out."

Ariel sighed. "There is nothing in life that can surprise me anymore. Hit with your worst."

"Edward?"

I had a feeling I knew what it was. "Go ahead."

"Ivy's alive."

"WHAT?!" shrieked Ariel.

I said nothing, though I forced a startled expression across my face and looked out the window.

"Wait..." In the rearview mirror, Jack's eyes narrowed.

He knew that I had known. My reaction hadn't convinced him.

He said nothing, though. Luckily for me, because the girls would probably have ripped my head off the moment they figured it out.

"The Fortune Seller is Ivy..." breathed Ariel. "How didn't I guess? How could I possibly..."

Miranda turned around. "Because she lied to us, her friends, and decieved us." You know how in cartoons, people's eyes shoot lasers and fire when they're angry? I'm pretty sure there were flames flickering in her eyes. "I'm so angry right now I can barely breathe."

I was terrified to even twitch.

"The Fortune Seller." Miranda snorted and returned to her seat. "We should have known. Who else would do something like that?"

"I would never have thought Ivy could do something like that on her own. It's not as if she's really good with people or business or anything like that."

"She had the Doctor helping her, probably. And other people. She has a lot of people who think it's in their best interests for her to suceed in life, of course they'd make sure she was okay. And the Doctor took her body... how didn't we figure this out sooner?" Miranda's voice was scaring me.

"Oh..." Ariel's face had gone white. "Um... Jack, you might want to pull over. I just realized something."

Jack pulled over.

"Ivy has a kid."

The car went dead still.

"Are you sure?"

"I met her after my parents died. Obviously, I didn't know who it was. Ivy's gotten good with wigs and makeup. She was with S.H.I.E.L.D., and there was a little boy with her. About a year old now, I'd guess. Ivy and me didn't talk much, but..."

"Why would Ivy have a kid? You know how she was about romantic relationships."

All eyes turned to me.

My face burned. "Hey, she turned me down. I never so much as held hands with her."

Ariel scratched her head. "Then... oh."

"What?"

"Nothing. It's Ivy's secret to keep." Her face had gone white.

"You're loyal to her now? _Seriously_?"

"She was probably trying to protect us. Misguidedly, sure, but I understand the sentiment. And really, if what I think happened is true, it's not for me to say anything."

What had changed? Oh... right. Ariel knew about what had caused the conception. Just me and Ariel. And Carmen.

Yeah, that was for Ivy to tell them about.

By the time we reached the state line, hours had passed, we were exhausted, and no one had spoken.

We pulled over at a rest stop with picnic tables and ate the muffins Jack's mom had made.

No one said a word for the whole time.

Finally, Jack put the empty muffin container on the table. "Everyone. Cell phones, ipods, all electronic devices in here."

I put my cell phone in, along with every one else's.

We buried them under a tree and marked the spot.

"We _will_ come back for these," promised Jack. "It's too inconvenient to replace them."

"Where are we going?" asked Ariel.

"Best I don't tell you. If something happens, the location will still be secret. Just me and Miranda know."

Ariel shrugged. "I trust you. And I'm too tired to argue."

"Brilliant." Miranda's never particularly expressive face had become a blank mask, barely even blinking.

The girls walked back to the car.

Jack pulled me behind the trees. "You. Knew _._ " He grabbed me by the shirt and shoved me against the rough bark.

It was pointless to deny it. "She wanted someone could back her up when she came back. I don't know why she picked me, but she wanted to protect you. If you knew, you'd be a target. She has a lot of enemies."

"I sort of noticed."

"I just did what she asked me to."

Jack shook his head. "Ivy really has you on a string, doesn't she?"

"Would you have done the same thing for Miranda?"

Jack froze. "Yes. I love Miranda, of course I'd do that for her. Look, Ivy means well. I could never think she doesn't. But she's not exactly the best at thinking things through. She'll stick to her decisions, but they're not always the greatest."

"I've noticed. But who was going to believe me? You? Miranda? You would have thought I'd had a weird dream and gone crazy."

"I knew you liked her. She's..." Jack cut himself off. "I used to have a crush on her, let's just leave it at that. You're right. I wouldn't have believed you, and she wanted it kept a secret. I would have done the same. I'm still mad at you, but I won't tell the girls."

If he had, Miranda probably would have killed me.


	14. Chapter 14

Carmen here.

The plane went absolutely silent after Ivy left. The Maximoffs sat in the furthest corner from me, sending subtle glares in my direction. Ultron sat on the other side of the plane, toying with the scepter.

Who was flying? I have no idea. Some poor sap he mind controled into it, probably.

He reached out suddenly, pressing it against my chest again.

Blue flashed in front of my eyes.

He pulled it away.

A fog settled in my mind. What had I been doing... yes. I should tell Ultron Ivy's secrets. It was the right thing to do.

Why, again? Never mind, it just was.

I opened my mouth. A horrible squeak came out.

"What?"

I cleared my throat and tried again. Another earpiercing screeching sound. "I don't understand. What is this supposed to mean?" I could still speak fine. What a relief.

My next attempt made a sound like a squeaky doorhinge.

It took an hour before I accepted defeat. All my attempts to tell Ultron anything Ivy or Avengers related caused my voice to vanish. Soon my throat began to hurt horribly.

"That's enough," said Quicksilver. "Try writing it down." He gave me a piece of paper and a pencil.

The pencil tip skidded off the paper twice, three times.

"What could you have possibly done to cause this?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't remember anything like that."

Wanda extended her hands toward my head. "There's something blocking me. I can't get anything off of her."

Ultron groaned and retreated to another area of the plane.

Jack narrating here.

To be honest, we hadn't decided on our destination yet.

We had a few options available to us in one area, and we just headed in their general direction.

Edward and Ariel both fell asleep in the back, leaning against each other.

"They'd make a cute couple, don't you think?" asked Miranda.

I shrugged. "I don't think he likes her like that. What about Ariel?"

"No idea. She doesn't talk about boys much to me, never did. Ivy mentioned she had a crush on some stage actor for a while, but that's it. Unless you count online gossip." She laughed.

"Not really, no."

"Now that Ivy's back, do you think Edward will try again?"

I stiffened. "Um..."

"I mean, once he gets over being mad at her. I always thought they'd be cute together."

"Don't play matchmaker just yet, you're still mad at her."

"I ship people all the time, I just never tell you about it. I shipped you and Ivy for a few years."

"...Me and Ivy."

"Yeah. Then I realized you would probably kill each other if you were involved like that."

"Your vote of confidence in my self control is astounding."

"I have vivid memories of her chasing you around the room after you said she was impulsive during our recording session after _Iron Man 3_. And equally vivid memories of you both screaming at each other for ten minutes afterwards."

How times had changed.

"I thought it was over." Miranda shifted in her seat slightly. "Over. I'd never have to do this again. But no, I have to do it over and over again. It's not my fault, it's Ivy's power. Why do _I_ have to be part of it? Why do _I_ have to be there for her? I'm tired of this, Jack. I'm sick of it, and I want it to end, but it won't ever end now."

"You don't know that."

"I wish she'd _stayed_ dead."

I gasped and twisted to stare at her. "You don't mean that."

"You think I can be her friendly support again? Like everything can just go back to normal? No, it can't. To be free for so long, nothing can be the same again. We'll have to talk to her, to spend time with her before this is over. When it is... I got into a nursing program. It starts in October."

"Wait, since when did you want to be a nurse? I thought you wanted to study English Literature."

"I kept it a secret in case it didn't work out – I didn't even tell my parents. Just your mom. She helped me. The program is out of state. I'll be leaving town."

"So soon? What about... us?"

"Us? You mean, our relationship? We can continue it long distance. It's not _that_ far."

"It's not the same."

"Jack, we're growing up. Sometimes it's inevitable that these things."

She was being uncharacteristically dismissive of the whole thing.

"I watched you dying, Jack, and I couldn't do anything. That's why I need to be a nurse. So I can do something next time." She reached across and put her hand on top of mine. "Things change. Look how much things changed in the last few years. I _can't_ live in the same town as Ivy anymore. Being near her would be too much. I might be able to avoid some of it..." her voice trailed off miserably.

"I understand. Do what you need to do. I'll support you in whatever your decision is."

"Thanks."

I glanced back at Edward. He was snoring.

There was that college out of state that I'd thought about... perhaps I should apply when we got this over.

Ivy here.

Watching the Avengers movies, you'd think it would be possible to get to Germany, Africa, and Sokovia in a matter of a few hours.

You'd be horribly wrong. It takes hours and hours and hours, just as long as a regular plane ride.

I slept for most of it.

Tony had been against my going with them, but when I had told him that either I went in the plane or I teleported, and I didn't care which, he had left me alone about it.

I wasn't there for them. It was purely for myself, and I told them that from the start. "I don't have much of anything I can do for you when your mission starts. I need to look for Carmen. She's got to be here somewhere."

Tony appeared none too happy with this. "I miss you when you did what we asked you to."

"And I miss the days when I didn't have to do any of this." Don't always get what we want, do we?

I didn't even go into the ship. Instead, I combed the surrounding area.

Carmen here.

Of course I didn't get off the quinjet when we landed.

Quicksilver stayed with me for a few minutes, sitting on the seat across from me.

"Why aren't you going with them? You'd be more useful there, wouldn't you?"

"I am. We're just waiting for someone."

"Who?"

"Sorry I didn't show up in time, Klaw needed me for a little longer." A young woman with long dark brown hair stepped through the open door. She turned toward me, brown eyes widening. "Carmen?"

I jumped up onto my feet. "Sharon? What are _you_ doing here?"

Her face had gone white. "I... Ultron made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" I stood up and gave her a hug. "It's so nice to see you. I thought... wait, I thought you were fourteen." She certainly wasn't. And she was Canadian – why did she have a French accent? (Yes, I know, French is an official language of Canada and a lot of people have it as a first language there. She told us she was from British Columbia. There aren't really a lot of French speakers there.)

She glanced at Quicksilver. He gave her a small nod.

"I lied. I'm from France, originally. I work for HYDRA. Strike that. I don't anymore."

I sank back onto the seat. "Does Ivy know?"

"Ivy's dead."

Quicksilver got up and vanished in a blur.

Sharon sank down into a sitting position. She wore a dark blue skirt which pooled out around her. She always had liked those.

"I've been in Africa for months, kissing up to that idiot Klaw and worming my way into his good graces."

"You don't think much of him?"

"I had better not say anything else. So you're loyal to Ultron as well?"

"Of course. He's made me an offer I can't refuse, either." What _was_ the offer, again? Never mind, his cause was important.

"You know about Ivy? Her... abilities?"

"Oh, of course. She told me about a year ago."

Sharon stared at me like I was crazy. "About a year? Um... hate to break it to you, but she _died_ a year and a half ago."

"That's what you think. She survived. She's the Fortune Seller."

I'm sorry, Ivy. I'm so, so sorry.

Her face relaxed. "Good, now I don't have to pretend. You see, I know."


	15. Chapter 15

Carmen here narrating.

"You... you know?"

"Of course. I kept traveling between universes after she died. Saw her when you did. I saw you, too."

"Did you see her daughter?"

Sharon burst out laughing. "See her? I was the one who took her."

My jaw dropped. "You... why?" Whatever my opinion of Ivy was, it was a horrible thing to do to anyone.

"Because HYDRA would have wanted me to. She was responsible for their fall – they were responsible for hers."

"She didn't fall."

"Not yet. You've been her friend for as long as anyone – what do you think could cause it?"

The realization was like being hit in the face with a sack of bricks. "Finding out about you."

"Exactly. She's loyal to the end, and expects the same from others. Maybe not consciously, but on some level. To say that she 'fell' when she finds this out... it wouldn't make her fall. It would utterly destroy her emotionally. She tried to commit suicide once. What do you think _this_ would do?"

My eyes widened. "She did _what_?"

Sharon raised an eyebrow. "Oh, she never told you? There's a big scar on her throat to prove it."

Ivy _had_ developed a liking for scarves in the last year or two... "How did _you_ know about it?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. knew, HYDRA had access to all of their files. She didn't even tell her parents. Or any of you."

To be honest, I wasn't particularly surprised – nor, surprisingly, did I feel angry. I wouldn't have told anyone either, in her position.

I stood up. "Sounds like she's been on the brink for a while. What if we were to give her a little push?"

"A push?"

"She'll be working against Ultron, of course. I don't like to do it – we're friends – but it would be for the best, wouldn't it? If she were to know about you, to know what you did... what do you think would happen?"

A smile split Sharon's face. "Of course. Yes. I didn't know you had that in you, Carmen."

"I don't _like_ it. The idea sickens me. But what else can I do? I'm useless to him otherwise."

Sharon handed me her cell phone. "Here. Do you know her number?"

Ivy, I'm so sorry.

I dialed.

It rung for a minute.

"Who is this?" Ivy was slightly out of breath.

"It's Carmen."

"Oh, thank God! Just a second."

A dark figure stood in the sand, just within sight.

Whoops. I had never thought that she would be with them... searching for me, I supposed. Why would she be doing that? Weren't we enemies?

Why were we enemies again?

She took off at a run toward us.

"Sharon's here, Ivy."

"Great, I can get you both out at the same time."

"She's HYDRA, Ivy. She took your little girl. To hurt you."

The figure didn't stop coming closer. I could see her face now. Ivy had naturally porcelain white skin – it had become paler, if that even possible. "Is that so?"

Sharon turned white. "I'm out of here." She broke into a run, sprinting out of the plane.

Ivy completely ignored me, charging past the plane and after Sharon.

Sharon was an incredibly fast runner, but she was no match for Ivy in the mental state I'd just put her in.

Ivy tackled her to the ground, fists pounding against her head and face, using her superior weight to pin her. I'd seen Ivy fight before, but this was something entirely new, unusually brutal, and completely terrifying.

Sharon screamed and flipped Ivy off. Both rolled on the ground, hitting and scratching and kicking each other.

In retrospect, it seems likely Ivy wanted to kill her. And she would have too.

My reaction was to start screaming at them to stop and to run at Ivy.

She released her hold of the other girl's hair and rolled off, dropping into a defensive stance. Her chest heaved and her eyes went wide – until that moment, I don't think she'd realized exactly how violent she was being.

She blinked as if dazed. "Carmen..."

I screamed something at her in German and launched myself at her, attacking her myself.

I'm a dancer, okay? A ballerina. I'm in pretty good shape. Still, being in good shape only helps so much if you have no idea what you're doing when you attack someone. She sidestepped and caught my fist, twisting my arm behind my back.

I screamed, more from the surprise than the pain.

Ivy let go with a yell.

I spun around. Quicksilver stood over Ivy. "You didn't see that coming?"

"What on earth is wrong with you?" This was addressed to me.

"It's you that's wrong."

Her eyes bored into mine. "I see." Ivy flipped Quicksilver, sending him flying. She hit her watch and disppeared, reappearing about a hundred yards away. "I'll come and get you!" she shouted. "I won't give up just yet."

She vanished.

Ivy here.

I rematerialized on the Avengers' quinjet, my whole body shaking.

What had just happened? _What had just happened_? I had nearly murdered Sharon. Carmen was being mind controlled.

And Sharon knew what had happened to my little girl. My Natalia.

Dr. Banner was gone already. Good. I didn't need someone trying to help me right now. I needed to hit something, to scream, to make _something_ hurt the way I was in that moment.

I drove my fist into the wall. Pain shot through my hand and several bones snapped.

My hands switched to hammerfists, hitting whatever was closest. A horrible scream reached my ears – my own voice.

My arms grew tired. My throat began to hurt. I sank down against the seat and cried.

I'd never been a crier. I could count the number of times I'd cried in the last few years on one hand. My crying was the quiet type, subdued, with tears trickling down my cheeks, me sobbing quietly.

This wasn't like those times. This was a completely undignified, half sobbing, half screaming. In that moment, if Sharon had come in, I don't think I would have noticed.

Fortunately, no one came in. Gradually, I became aware of the slowly fading daylight and the silence around me.

I wasn't staying or waiting for them. I needed to get out of here, now.

Of course, I couldn't go back to the tower. They wouldn't want to see me anymore.

I teleported back to the house, onto the front porch, and knocked.

Ryan opened the door immediately. "I thought you'd come back. You never could leave things well enough alone, could you? Of course not."

Ouch. "Look, I wanted to talk. Can I come in?"

He swung the door wide. "Be my guest. I suppose."

We both sat down in the living room. Him on the couch, me in the chair where guests would always sit.

A guest in my own home. I don't know what else I'd expected.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

I didn't have anything to say – but I had to say _something_. Otherwise, he'd just kick me out of the house again. That would be just too much for today. "I wanted to tell you that people are going to come after you soon. You need to get out of town as soon as possible. I'll send you directions to a safe house where you can hide."

"The same people with the robots?"

"Something like that."

"How long will I have to hide?"

"For a week, maybe two or three. Not long."

"How are you surviving now? Do you have a job?"

"I use my abilities to get information about different universes and sell it. I do alright."

Ryan said nothing, instead shifting his position on the couch and adjusting one of the brown cushions. "Where's my nephew?"

"At home. That doctor you met? His wife babysits for me, as part of a deal we made."

"I don't want to know about all of this. You're my little sister. The annoying little sister who always weirded out my girlfriends and who teased me about any girl I went near. The one who hated ballet and playing piano. You're not her anymore, are you?"

"Be honest, Ryan. I haven't been for a very long time, have I?"

He sighed. "You're right."

"We've never gotten along very well, Ryan. I'll be the first to admit it. There's a lot of regrets on my side. Things I never meant to happen. But you're the only family I have left. Can we at least try?"

He readjusted the pillow again, refusing to meet my eyes.

The only sound was the ticking clock on the mantelpiece.

"I see. Thank you. You should pack up and be ready to go. Be ready in ten minutes."

He got up and left. His feet made no sound on the carpet.

You know, to be perfectly honest, I kind of hate my life sometimes.


	16. Chapter 16

Miranda here.

Ariel and Edward fell asleep in the back of the car as night came.

Jack and I remained awake, keeping an eye out for any Ultron-bots that might come after us.

"There's something I haven't told you, Jack," I said after a while.

"What?"

"You remember how I was away for a few days last month?"

"Yeah? It was a camping trip, right?"

"No. I applied to a nursing school out of state. They've accepted my application, and I'm leaving in the fall."

"What?"

"Yes. I've been thinking about it for a while, and I think it would be more practical than studying English literature."

He said nothing for a moment. "English literature... but that's what you love. It's what you've always wanted to study."

"I've had a change of heart. Nursing is more practical."

He turned to look at me. "You're sensible, Miranda. I love that about you. But this is so sudden... out of state?"

I needed to get away. Ivy's abilities... I can't escape them. Even when she was dead, they still affected me. "Yes. I think I need a change."

"What about our relationship?"

"Long distance relationships aren't exactly impossible, Jack. Unless, of course, you want to propose." I didn't expect him to propose right out of high school. We hadn't even graduated. Would I like to marry him? Yes, one day in the near future. Oh. Oh! Please tell me he's not listening – oh good. He knows, but... Yeah, now is probably not the best time to get engaged.

"Are you dropping hints?"

"Jack... it's the best nursing program I could get into. I don't dislike the study and science, and it would be a good step up. Literature professors and teachers don't really make a lot of money."

"I don't understand you, Miranda. I'm trying to understand you right now, but it's like trying to break a brick wall with my head. Is it because of Ivy?"

"I didn't know she was alive when I applied. What's so surprising about changing my mind about things?"

"You _don't_ change your mind. Ever." His voice rose.

"Well, I do now!"

The tension and the lack of sleep were making us both short tempered.

"Why is honesty too much to ask for, Miranda? I'll understand if you tell me the truth, but I can't understand you if you won't tell me the truth!"

"I am telling you the truth!" We were both yelling now. Not the first time we'd raised our voices at each other, but probably the most serious one.

"No, no you're not. You girls want us guys to listen to you and understand you, but if you won't be honest and tell us, how can you expect us to be any good at it?"

"You got shot!"

The words came out in a scream.

"And I couldn't do anything. I watched you dying, and there was nothing I could do." My tone was low and soft. "That's why I have to leave, to be a nurse, to get away from her, any of those reasons, take your pick."

Jack returned his attention to the road.

Ivy here.

I set Ryan up at the little apartment I used to rent in England. I used to live there, but there was... complications (S.H.I.E.L.D.). However, the place is still available for my use. The woman who owns the building owes me a few favors. Don't ask.

"If anything happens, I want you to go down the hall to the Watsons. Mrs. Watson is keeping an eye on Phillip. There's food in the fridge, books under the bed. Anything else?"

"Phillip is my nephew."

"Yeah."

"Can I see him? Now?"

Was this some kind of attempt to reach out, or genuine curiousity? I'd never really been good at reading my brother. "Sure, why not?"

Mrs. Watson was, of course, at home. She eyed my brother with suspicion. "Who's this?"

"My brother. Ryan. Do you mind if he comes in? He wants to meet Phil."

She brought my son to the door. He hadn't done much walking yet – my habit of carrying him around probably had caused that. I just like him being near to me, okay?

Ryan stared at the little boy. "He doesn't look like you."

"No. His looks come from his father."

"Who is his father, Ivy? I never thought you would do something like this."

He hadn't got it last time? "Do you _seriously_ think I consented?"

His face went white. "Oh. _Oh_."

"And no, I'm not going to tell you who the father was. The fewer people who know, the better. Maybe in a few months, a few years."

"I just wanted to know who I should beat up." His face had gone slightly pale.

"Unless you're very, very unlucky, you'll never meet him."

"You don't sound particularly... upset about it."

"Oh, believe me, I am. Remember what happened when those guys tried flirting with me?"

"Yeah, they stabbed you when you ignored them."

"Sort of. They started the fight, I escalated it to that point. In hindsight, that wasn't one of my more shining moments as a human being. I sort of made it worse. You should have heard the lecture I got... but the point is, you know my policy on that sort of thing. However, the situation is kind of complicated and beating him up for it wouldn't help matters." Though he probably wouldn't blame Ryan for wanting to.

"I need to go now, Ryan."

He didn't seem to hear me, staring at his nephew as if he was the most interesting sight in the world.

Ariel here.

Miranda and Jack had, of course, woken us up, but we didn't say anything. It seemed safer.

Eventually, the sky grew pale, then began to turn to blue.

"Are we almost there?"

"Yeah," said Jack. He pulled out a map from the glovebox. "Just a few more hours."

Edward snored loudly next to me.

Miranda grinned. "You know, school only starts in January for me. Let's go on a trip, all of us. You, me, Edward, Jack. Carmen, if she wants to come too. She's traveled, she's got experience and can tell us all the tricks and best places to go."

"Actually, that sounds great." Jack looked to me for approval. "What do you think?"

"Depends on where."

"Europe. Oh, definitely Europe."

Jack shrugged. "Europe sound okay to you?"

Europe didn't really seem like Jack's thing to me – I think Asia would be more his thing. Japan, China, those kinds of places. But if anything was his thin, making Miranda happy was. "Sure. We can start planning when this all is done."

"Or now. We could do it now. Where do we want to go see?" All I could see of Miranda was her curly dark brown hair, but her tone was bright I knew she must be beaming with happiness.

"Austria. I want to go to the Vienna Opera and see all the tombs of the great composers."

"There'll be plenty of those, if Carmen's pictures from her trip are anything to go by."

"Since when do you talk to Carmen?"

"Since I made a point of knowing all of Ivy's friends in one way or another. We were in choir together, remember? I would talk to her about pronouncing words in some of our songs – you know she speaks four langauges?"

"Four?" Jack sounded doubtful. "I know she speaks German, but what are the other two?"

"Russian and Dutch – though she did say that she's not fluent in either."

"Are you sure you believe her?"

Miranda shook her head vigorously. "She's from Europe. In Europe, it's more common to understand multiple languages. Think about it. The countries are way smaller and closer together. You can drive a couple hours and be in a completely different country where people speak a completely different language. Why _wouldn't_ people understand more of them, in that situation? Anyhow, aside from Vienna, what other ideas do we have?"

"Paris," said Edward.

I jumped. Since when had he been awake?

"England," said Miranda.

"Agreed. Definitely England – but haven't you already been?"

"You can never see England too many times."

It was so strange, planning our vacation to a continent which could be completely destroyed if we didn't keep people from finding out the future.

"So, where is this hiding place?"

Miranda and Jack glanced at each other. "It's... a farm."


	17. Chapter 17

Ariel here.

You know, Miranda and I were talking the other day, and she pointed ouy my life is kind of like a fairytale.

It follows the same basic structure, anyway. Random girl, something happens to her, does things she shouldn't do – like get too curious and investigate something she shouldn't – get rewarded for it, marries the prince, lives happily ever after. The prince, in my case, is a deformed teacher who I didn't actually marry, but whatever. I've heard people compare me to Cinderella before. Unnoticed until she was given a chance to shine.

That's how you all probably think of fairytales. That's how I thought of fairytales until Miranda pointed that out and I laughed. I was raised on Disney, she was raised on the real thing. She lent me a book of Grimm's fairytales to prove the point.

Turns out, fairytales are dark. And disgusting. You know Cinderella's sisters cut off _pieces of their feet_ in the original story?

That's a pretty good way to describe the last few years, really. Dark. Grim.

And the thing they never show in the Disney movies is that the princesses often have problems _after_ they find their princes. Like one was accused of being a witch and burned at the stake. And one had her husband stolen by an ogre. I think there's an alternate ending to Cinderella where one of the stepsisters tried to kill her.

Wow, I got off track there. Anyhow, long and the short of it is that dark, kind of depressing things keep happening to me.

Like, oh, I don't know, _my brother not letting me in on the little detail that he had a wife and two kids_.

Yeah. No, he's not off the hook for that yet.

No one's off the hook yet. _Especially_ you, Edward.

They stopped a couple miles from the farm. Where they got the address from, I don't know. They're Jack and Miranda, they know _everything_. (I bet Ivy told them).

We had to walk the whole way – and I was wearing heels. I'm used to them, but seriously?

"Why couldn't you just pull up to the house?" I demanded. I stopped and yanked the shoes off. It hurt too much to continue.

Jack shrugged. "It was too much of a risk. Besides, we need a reason to be there. For the ones I have, pulling up wouldn't work."

"So they don't know we're coming?"

"They also don't know who we are."

I groaned aloud.

I know now that they were attempting to prolong the reaction from me.

We eventually turned down a long dirt road, walking through a gate and through trees.

"So what's the story?" asked Edward.

"Easy. We just say the car broke down and we're waiting for help, and could we please wait a few hours until our ride comes. That should be enough time."

That made no sense, but I don't argue with them anymore.

The house was a picturesque little farmhouse. Everything perfectly normal.

Jack knocked on the door.

It was opened by a woman with brown hair.

Jack gave her story about the car breaking down. "Our friend is coming to pick us up. I'm awfully sorry, but do you mind if we step inside? It's very hot outside."

"Yes, of course." She swung the door open wide. Her eyes widened at the sight of me. "Aren't you –"

"Ariel Dalton, yes. Nice to meet you..." I'm rather recognizable, with my waist length long brown hair and lack of height. There are ten year old _boys_ taller than me.

"Laura. Laura Barton."

I'm pretty sure that if a _pin_ had dropped, it would have made an enormous clanging, banging sound in the absolute stillness.

Miranda, Jack, and Edward all stared at me.

They'd known.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Barton." I gave her a warm smile, the one I give to my fans when I decide I like the person. "Are you familiar with my work?"

"Who isn't? What are you doing here?"

"Getting away for a little while. I sprained my ankle and I can't really perform on it right now. It's nearly better, but every once in a while it's nice to be away from the public eye."

I turned slightly to my friends.

They shrank back several feet. Edward cowered behind Miranda. Yes, I am dead serious. _Cowered_ behind her.

I smiled, I answered questions and asked all the expected ones. Miranda and Jack eventually sat down, but Edward stayed in the corner.

Then the kids came in from outside. My niece and my nephew. Lovely kids, both wide eyed at the sight of someone they'd seen on TV.

My _dear_ brother was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

It was two hours before he showed up.

He came into the house and around the corner, greeting his wife.

He stopped short at the sight of me.

"Ariel..."

"Yes, we have a visitor." Mrs. Barton was completely unaware.

The other Avengers walked in behind him.

The silence was spectacular, really. Dead stillness.

"Was there something you forgot to tell me, Clint?"

It took him a moment to stop staring open mouthed. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, apparently." I stood up.

"Wait..." Mrs. Barton looked between the two of us. "What's going on?"

"Can I talk to you outside, Ariel?" Clint's face was expressionless.

"If you wish."

I'll spare you the details. Because some things are too personal to put online.

Let's just say there was yelling, screaming, crying, and a lot of things said on both sides that neither of us actually meant. I'm not proud.

Carmen here.

There was quiet on the way to Korea. I sat in one of the seats that lined the walls of the tiny aircraft.

Wanda sat in the corner with Ultron, conversing quietly.

Pietro walked over to me and sat down, but said nothing for a while.

I leaned back. My bun squished against the wall of the cabin. I leaned forward again and began to remove the pins, dropping them on the seat next to me. My little sister Pia had done it for me, and she had been rather... overzealous with the bobby pins and hairspray. She cosplays a lot, I don't know what I was thinking letting her do it. Several of the pins had sparkles on them – had she put _glitter_ in my hair?

I looked like a mess. I hadn't showered in way too long, my hair was greasy and full of hairspray. Gross. My dress was a dirty mess too.

Pietro scooped up the pins for me.

"So, you're from Sokovia?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yes. And you're from Germany?"

He had such a nice accent. Quite handsome, too. I could talk with him all day and not care what he said. "Originally, yes, though now we live here. I suppose you've heard of my family."

"Who hasn't?"

"You'd be surprised, in the States. No one cares about history there, at least – well, there's one or two girls I know who are fairly knowledgable about it, but my name is only ever associated with the part of my family who was involved in the Nazi party."

"Your friend, the one who has this power... how long have you know her?"

"I've known her since I was seven. We took ballet together and classes together. She was physically a lot stronger than I was. We had to take French together when we were twelve. Neither of us had any knack and we would study together. Then we went on a retreat with our choir and someone assaulted her and her friend in the woods. She ran inside the place we were staying in, screaming. I went to find help. She looked like she'd seen a ghost, poor thing. They got her friend back, but neither of them were the same. Then more stuff started happening. Then she told me she needed some kind of relaxation hobby and I taught her to knit. We hung out, but we were never particularly close."

I tugged my hair down out of the position Pia had coaxed it into. It sprang back up. I ran my fingers through it, yanking at tangles and wishing for a hairbrush.

Pietro watched me for several moments, obviously amused. My cheeks burned.

I eventually managed to push it down. Lesson learned: never let a cosplayer style your hair. What I wouldn't have given for a shower to get rid of all the gel and spray.

Pietro stuffed the pins into his pocket. "I'll keep these for you."

"Thank you." She had put tiny _snowflakes_ in my hair. Snowflakes. Who does that? She'd joked I look like Elsa in my blue dress, but seriously? Only Pia would have the gall to actually do something like that. Why had no one pointed it out? Even my date hadn't noticed.

"Did you have a boyfriend to go with?"

What an odd question. "Oh, no. I just went with a boy who's going to my ballet school. Nice guy, but not one I want to go out with on a regular basis."

He picked up the sparkly, sticky snowflakes as well. "What's the other world like?"

"About the same as this one, except without superheroes. A mixed blessing, I suppose." I shrugged. "Also, there's no super powers. And the technology is more limited. Not terribly, but we don't have the holoscreens and whatnot that you have here. Everything you have here like that exists in movies and comic books." Apparently, it was okay to tell them this.

Ivy had probably done something. What, I don't know, since I didn't remember it, but it must have been Ivy. She knew people who could do this sort of thing. She knew all kinds of people. She knew the _Doctor_. It wasn't surprising at all that she would have made these kinds of arrangements, with her ability to time travel. Which meant she would survive past the end of this.

Time is, however, kind of flexible. Particularly when something hasn't been done yet, and the person changing it is already on the edge.


	18. Chapter 18

Ivy here.

By the time I got to Clint's farm, it was late at night.

Clint and the rest of the Avengers sat around the kitchen table, no one looking at each other.

Mrs. Barton looked exhausted when I answered the door. "Another friend of Clint's?"

"And Ariel's, Mrs. Barton."

I sent Jack and Miranda the address. I knew they were going. Thank you for helping me with that, by the way, Edward. You're a terrific friend.

She opened the door silently.

I offered her a hand. "Ivy Williams, Mrs. Barton. It's nice to meet you."

"And you as well. So how do you know them?"

"I have the ability to travel between universes. They just sort of found out about it."

She jerked her hand back in surprise.

"I know, I know. I'm also an old friend of Miranda and Ariel and the others. It's complicated."

She let me in without a word.

Poor woman. What a day she must have been having.

Natasha turned to see me. "I take it she wasn't there?"

"No. She was."

"What happened to your hand?"

"I... punched a wall."

Somehow, my stupidity didn't surprise her. It probably came from her having trained me for a while. "Why did you do that?"

"Sharon's with HYDRA. What a day."

No expression registered in her eyes. "Let me see it."

"You don't sound surprised."

"That's not what's important." She inspected my hand. "You should have gone to a doctor for that. You know one, of course?"

"Yeah. I stopped by his house, but he was away." The pain had been barely noticable, to be honest. I had other things on my mind.

"Did you know?" I sat down next to her.

The others didn't seem particularly thrilled to see me, or hear my news. Can't say I blame them.

What a day today had been.

"No. I never even suspected. Then again, HYDRA was inside S.H.I.E.L.D., so any suspicious behavior would have been ignored."

"I can't believe I never suspected her."

"And I can't believe we never suspected Jasper Sitwell. She was very good at what she did."

I glanced around at the faces around the table. "Where's Clint?"

"He and Ariel had a bit of a fight."

Behind me, someone burst into laughter.

I twisted in my seat.

Miranda leaned on the wall, bent over, shaking with laughter.

"Oh, sorry to startle you. But, um... a bit of a fight? They screamed at each other for an _hour_ and they're both off sulking somewhere else."

Ah, family drama. The worst kind. I know a bit about that.

"Is everyone upstairs?"

Miranda nodded. "Even Ariel. She sat down in the corner two hours ago and hasn't moved since."

Unsurprising. "I think I'm needed upstairs, Natasha."

"Let me know if you need help with anything. Are you going to talk to her?"

"Eventually."

Miranda here.

Ariel was, in fact, still sitting in the corner, facing the wall.

Ivy gave her a bright smile. "Hi, Ariel."

She turned and glared. "I'm mad at you, too."

"Oh. Right. Sorry, I'd forgotten." She sat down behind her.

"Go away."

"Not until you turn around and talk to me."

"You're really making me angry right now."

"The feeling has been mututal on many occasions."

She was sharper than usual. Strange. What had happened when she was "dead"? A lot she hadn't told us about yet.

Ivy's tone was hard. "I have a bit of a rough day, Ariel. I've been betrayed, attacked physically and emotionally, and had a series of spectacular failures in a row. My brother hates me right now, Ariel. As does someone I used to consider a friend. I'm not going to end my day with another failure."

She grabbed Ariel's collar and pulled her around to face her.

Ariel's face was stained with tears.

Ivy's tone softened. "Don't stay angry. It's not good for you. Go talk to him right now."

"He should have told me."

"Probably. However, your reaction is not going to help matters. We've all got enough on our plates right now without solvable family drama."

She stood up and left silently.

I cleared my throat. "Isn't that my job, to do that to you?"

"Get everyone in here. We need to talk."

It took a few minutes to assemble everyone, and they all glared at Ivy. All except for Edward, who looked resigned and exhausted. Having a crush tends to lessen a person's flaws and mistakes. Particularly when said crush is a red haired knock out. Seriously. It'll be a lucky guy to catch Ivy. Very lucky.

I sat on the bed. Edward and Jack took the matress on the floor. Ariel stood in the doorway, face a little calmer.

Ivy remained standing. "Look, guys. I'm sorry. I messed up. Big time."

"You can say that again," muttered Ariel.

"But I'm going to ask that you don't interrupt what I'm going to tell you. Roughly, I think you should all know what happened while I was gone."

She told us everything. About the Doctor, living on Knowhere, having twins, about Sharon and Sharon taking her daughter.

"So you still have one of them?" Ariel's voice was quiet.

"Yes. He's in London right now."

"You have a good babysitter?"

"Of course I do. Someone who knows the situation very exactly. Mary Watson."

"From Sherlock?" The words burst out. "From _Sherlock_? Have you met Sherlock Holmes?"

"Yes."

"You. Me. London. When this is over. We're planning a trip. You're showing us the highlights."

"Anything."

I'd take her up on that.

"But I'm tired of secrets. No more secrets."

"Agreed," muttered Ariel, crossing her arms.

"Is everyone else agreed?"

"Do you think one of us might be with HYDRA, like Sharon?"

"I don't want to." Her eyes settled on Edward. "But Edward..."

His face went white. "I'm not. I know I came here with her, but I'm not, I'm not."

"And I want to believe you. I also have no reason to not believe you. But... would you be alright with me confirming it?"

"How?" He glanced wildly around the room, gaze settling on our faces. "You don't really think so?"

"I do have to consider the possibility."

She was right. It was a logical conclusion to come to, as much as I didn't like to consider it.

"Just know that once this is over, I'm going to have to find out." She looked exhausted. "In the meantime, if you are... I don't know. I don't want to really think right now."

Edward stood. "I'm sorry. I need to go clear my head."

"If anyone has any secrets they'd like to come out with, now's the time."

"If he actually is HYDRA, aren't you worried he'll try to kill you in your sleep?"

"He could. Except for that there are six superheroes downstairs he'd have to get past first. Assuming he does that, the Doctor would hunt him down. Or the Guardians. Or... Sherlock Holmes. Which ever. He's not stupid. If he had any plans to kill me, I'm confident that he's smart enough to abandon them in favor of saving the world. And now you all would know it was him. Edward is smart enough to realize that. Besides, I don't think he is with them."

"Then why say anything at all? You saw how hurt he looked." Ariel's face was expressionless, but her tone dark.

"I have to consider it."

"He couldn't be."

"Why not?"

"What about any of us?"

"Oh, you definitely could. But I am giving you the benefit of the doubt because I think you're safe. HYDRA wouldn't have known to plant spies when I was eight or nine – when I met you all."

Jack made a small choking sound.

Ivy's face fell. "Oh. Oh. What happened?"

"We went to Agent Carter and we left a letter explaining about you. In the 40s. They would have had years."

Ivy buried her face in her hands. "This day just worse. I can't believe it. This day actually got worse."

Poor Ivy. Poor Ivy.

"I need to go." She jolted to her feet and ran out.

Even though I was angry, I felt sorry for her.


	19. Chapter 19

Ivy here.

I found Edward outside, sitting in the trees.

He obviously heard me, but didn't turn around.

"Edward, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that I thought you were with HYDRA."

"You didn't. You just said that the possibility was there. And you're right. You have a lovely accent now, by the way."

"I shouldn't have said it in front of you. It hurt your feelings, and I'm sorry."

"It makes perfect sense."

Translation: it hurt a lot.

"I should have kept my mouth shut. I'm sorry."

He still hadn't turned around from his crouched position among the vegetation.

"I keep messing up today. I don't want to go to bed with this on my conscience."

"You're forgiven."

He didn't mean it.

"Edward, please turn around and look at me."

He did so.

"I didn't mean to hurt you or anyone."

"HYDRA beat up Sharon when they were trying to get information from her. She couldn't be with them. She told me not to say anything." He frowned.

"They wanted me to believe she was my friend. It was a brilliant move. Sharon made me happy, and was everything I needed whenever I needed her. They probably had some more complicated plan, which Jack Frost ruined." I sat down, facing him.

"Probably."

"How did my life turn out this way, Edward? I feel like it could have been different. I don't even know the details about how I got this power. The Doctor won't tell me. I've sunk lower than the people I think badly of. I'm a useless failure."

"Don't you ever say that!" Edward scrambled forward. "You're not a failure."

I burst out laughing. "Edward, there are a lot of things about me you don't know."

His face was so close he could have kissed me. I pulled mine away.

"Edward, listen." I took off my scarf, revealing the scars on my neck.

It was dim, but the light from the house cast enough that he could see them – and I could see his horrified expression.

"I did that. I'm not proud." My gaze locked with his. "That's one of many things on the list of my life's mistakes. Don't lie to yourself. If I had done things differently, I wouldn't be here. You're sweet. You care. I like that about you. But don't think I'm better than I am."

He pushed himself away slightly.

"You should go find someone else to have a crush on. There's lots of girls who would be more receptive to you. Who could date you."

"The more I know you, the more I see I like." He kept a respectful distance now.

"Edward. I can't even think about it. I don't know. I can't know. It's too dangerous for us both. Honestly, boys were something I didn't really think about until I met you. They were just my arrogant sparring partners." I stood. "I'm sorry. It shouldn't have been brought back up. I just wanted to go to sleep with one less thing on my conscience."

"If you want, I think Ariel has sleeping meds."

That didn't sound like too bad an idea.

"Do you honestly believe I'm with them?"

The words were like a knife to the chest.

"No. No. I could never believe that, not unless I saw very good proof. But I don't quite know who to trust right now."

"I'd tell you that you can trust me, but..." A small, forced laugh. "I suppose you shouldn't right now."

I shook my head. "Don't worry. It's nothing a talk with the Doctor shouldn't be able to clear up."

Ariel here.

I hate waking up the morning after something bad happens. You have a few wonderful moments of awareness that you've just woken up. Then the memory filters in, and you feel hurt and sick all over again. Or is that just me? Whatever.

Anyhow, I lay in bed for a while, listening to Miranda's peaceful breathing. Edward snored in the room next to me. Yes, I could hear him through the wall.

Everything I'd thought the day before played over and over again in my head. I curled into a ball and pushed against them. Why?

The door creaked open. I opened my eyes.

Ivy entered. "Ariel, you're awake."

What must her waking up have been up like?

"Where did you sleep?"

She blinked. "Sleep? Yeah, I guess I must have done that at some point." Her eyes were red and bags had formed under them.

"Where were you last night?" She had asked for some sleeping pills, but clearly hadn't taken them.

"So you're talking to me now?"

"Oh, I'm still mad. I'm just mad at so many people I need to take one off my list of people I'm not speaking to." I was tired of feeling anything anymore. Everything hurt.

"I thought you and Hawkeye apologized to each other."

"I did. I'm still angry." It physcially hurt my stomach to think, to feel anything.

"I'm sorry, Ariel. This is all my fault. If it wasn't for my condition, you wouldn't be going through any of this."

"It's not your fault." But it wasn't true. I did blame her.

"Whose fault is it, then?"

I said nothing, instead sitting up. "No one's, really." Another lie.

She sank to the floor and curled into a ball.

Miranda sat up from the mattress. "Ivy, come on. Let's go for a walk outside."

Ivy rose to her feet. "Yes. A walk."

Miranda hooked her arm and the two left.

Miranda narrating now.

The sky outside was pale, not quite proper morning yet. Damp grass soaked through my socks – I hadn't wanted to let go of Ivy's arm to put my shoes on.

"I dreamed about what happened last night. I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night." Her tone was flat and expressionless.

She probably hadn't had a decent night's sleep for a while.

"You should have taken the pills."

"I'd talked with Edward and felt better. I thought I was strong enough to sleep without them."

"You are. But you don't have to do it on your own. Accepting help isn't cheating."

She snorted. "I know that. But taking them would have made me useless if something happened when I was sleeping. When S.H.I.E.L.D. insisted I talk to a therapist, he told me to take them. My parents couldn't wake me up the next morning and freaked out. Sleeping pills just make me nervous now. And I thought you were mad at me."

"Ivy, I _can't_ stay angry. It's hard for me to do it for a while. Ariel and Jack, on the other hand... you've got work ahead of you. Edward seems pretty chill about the whole thing."

"Edward is chill about _everything_." A little smile crossed her face.

"You like him, don't you?"

"I've told him that it's no good talking about it right now." Her face shut down.

"Okay." There would be nothing from her on that subject. The opposite gender had always fancied her. And she had never spared them a second glance. For her to not outright deny attraction meant that something serious was going on.

I had so many questions about what was going on and what had happened, but now wasn't the time to ask.

"We can't be the way we were before." Her voice was soft. "You're going to study nursing?"

"Who told you?"

"The Doctor keeps an eye on you. He told me."

"He's... spying on us?" I had to force myself not to be annoyed – and to not fangirl. That awkward moment when... "Honestly, nothing will surprise me ever again. I'm going to regret that statement, aren't I?"

"Probably."

We both burst out laughing.

It felt wonderful to laugh, even over something like that.

Ivy bent over, her whole body shaking.

I sank to the ground, giggling.

We must have looked stupid, losing our minds over such a silly remark.

Still, it felt great, so I don't really care.


	20. Chapter 20

**Saw Civil War last night! SQEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

Ivy here.

Absolutely nothing interesting happened that morning. None of us really spoke to each other or tried to work out any problems. I did call Mary to check how Phillip was doing, though. Unfortunately, visiting wasn't a possibility when everyone was like this.

In the afternoon, Ariel played with her nephew and niece on the porch. Natasha joined them.

I helped split wood.

There's something therapeutic about hitting things with an ax when you're angry.

Edward watched from a distance.

"You could be a gentleman and offer to help!" I shouted over at him.

He burst out laughing. "Oh, sure, I _could_. But you don't want me to."

"No, not really." I swung the ax, embedding it in the log.

He swallowed visibly. "You're a lot stronger than I'll ever be."

"Genetically, you have more potential than she does."

Jack's voice made me jump.

"No offense to Ivy, but female genetics are what they are. Granted, neither of us ever actually will be stronger than her. We don't have the motivation to train and work out that she does. She has plenty of time, too, since she wasn't spending any time with her friends."

My cheeks burned. I pulled on the ax and swung it again.

It went straight through the wood. Two pieces fell to the grass.

Jack swallowed hard. "Um... I'll just be on the porch."

He scuttled away, back to the porch.

I continued chopping wood, slamming the axe into the logs, splitting them straight down the middle. Chips flew everywhere. Edward ducked away.

"Ivy, I hate to be annoying, but you're starting to scare me."

I turned to glare. Then I realized that my pile had begun to equal Tony's.

I dropped the axe, narrowly missing my foot. "I'm going to take a walk."

Edward here.

Captain America and Mr. Stark stared after Ivy as she stormed off.

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Captain America.

I shrugged. "When this is over? Maybe. She's taking all of this pretty hard. Betrayal isn't something she really understands."

"You haven't known her for long, have you?" asked Mr. Stark. "She betrayed all of us."

"I've known her for long enough. I was in that musical with her, remember? And you know we were friends."

"Friends? I don't think she's got any real friends. Kid, just because you've got a crush on her doesn't mean she's perfect."

Cap set down his ax. "That's not fair, Stark. She had a reason for disappearing."

"There was always something wrong with that girl. How can someone who's not crazy – especially someone who always prided herself on being so moral – let people to die and suffer?"

"I'm not dumb, Mr. Stark. There probably is something wrong with her after three years of doing things she felt so..." I searched for the words "... morally conflicted about." Miranda had used that phrase once. I had stored it in my memory for future use.

"What's that, Mr. Stark?"

I jumped.

Miranda stood behind me, teeth bared in a smile which strongly resembles that of an attacking shark. She is scary when she's mad.

"Mr. Stark, may I remind you that she is completely in control of her mental faculties? If she was not, S.H.I.E.L.D. or someone else would have locked her up ages ago. There _are_ people who keep an eye on her to make sure of that. Do you think she enjoys doing what she does, or do you think she does it because she believes it serves a greater purpose?" Miranda's voice remained at the same level, calm tone, but her eyes were icy. "And do you think, even for a moment, that she would do it if she thought there was another way? I thought you respected her for it."

"That was before a lot of this stuff happened. And I though you were mad at her."

"I still am rather annoyed, but I'm putting it behind me because it serves no purpose."

Mr. Stark shook his head. "Spock. You're _Spock_ in a human body. Do you feel anything either?"

Miranda went very still, eyes fixed on his eyes.

Mr. Stark went just as still, meeting her gaze.

"No, seriously. You've got that female Spock look."

" _Give me a break_!" Miranda's scream could probably have been heard all the way in Sokovia.

And she doesn't really look like a female Spock, for the record. She has dark hair, but that's about it. She told me once her dad was from the Middle East and she definitely looks like it. And she wears glasses. Definitely not Spock.

The tension could have been cut with a butter knife.

"Don't speak about her like that. And don't imply that my reason is some form of detachment. Have you ever actually seen _Star Trek_? Doubtful. If they'd listened to Mccoy on a regular basis, the Enterprise would have blown up in Season one. Detachment isn't necessarily a bad thing. But I am not detached." She spun on her heel, then turned around. "I am a perfectly reasonable person. I'm going to nursing school in the fall, and I am fairly close in IQ to my genius boyfriend. Though, sadly, I am not on the same level intellectually. The first point is, how _dare_ you call me detached because I attempt to apply reason to the situation." Her body seemed to vibrate, her hands, shaking with rage. "The second point is the more important one. Reason has been applied to this situation by myself, and by Ivy, and by many others with experience and mental capacity beyond ours – and even yours, Mr. Stark. Yes, such a thing is possible, and many people have achieved it. So don't you dare speak about my friend like that." Her chin quivered. "Don't you dare say a word against her in my presence. Ever. Again. Do you understand me?" Without waiting for an answer, she spun around on her heel and stomped off.

The only sound was birds chirping.

Jack climbed down off of the porch and walked over to me.

"I think I'll go make sure she doesn't do anything drastic."

"I think I'll come with you and take a look for Ivy. They went off in the same direction." I followed him into the flat area surrounding the house.

We found Ivy first, sitting in the upper branches of a tree.

She stared down at us with red eyes. "I'm not coming down."

I grabbed the branches of the tree and pulled, trying to climb up into the tree with her.

I wasn't strong enough and I instead hung from the branch.

"Um... could you give me a boost, Jack?"

He smirked and shoved me upwards.

"... Thanks."

Above me, Ivy giggled.

It was relatively easy to scale the remaining branches and perch on the one below her.

"I'll go find Miranda," said Jack below us. "You two can talk."

There was silence, except for the breeze rustling the leaves.

"I thought I'd be graduated high school and be going to school in a few months." Her voice was so soft I had to strain to hear. "I wasn't smart enough for university."

"Yes, you are."

"You never saw my grades, did you? No university would accept _me_. I had someone suggest modeling once but I'm not exactly photo shoot material. I thought about finding somewhere to go study martial arts. Somewhere quiet where I could focus, where that was all I could do. It was the only thing I was good at. Now... I have something else I'm good at. And I just wish I couldn't do it at all." She burst into tears.

I moved up a branch and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

She didn't even notice me.

Jack here.

We should never have go to that farm. What we needed was somewhere where the Avengers weren't. Where we could deal with our problems without interference.

Too late now.

Miranda was half a mile away, hiding in a patch of woods under a tree. The warm sun illuminated her skin, and her eyes were closed. Her glasses rested in her hand. If I had been an artist, I would have loved to draw her like that. Unfortunately, I am not artistic.

She opened her eyes and regarded me calmly. She hadn't been crying, her eyes were perfectly clear. However, as her friend of twelve years and her boyfriend of about one and a half, I could detect the storm brewing behind her eyes.

"He implied that I was stupid. That I am unreasonable. That I would do or say anything simply because _she_ says it. Really, the man knows nothing about me." She pushed the round glasses back onto her face. "What right has he to talk to me like I'm a child?"

"You're seventeen. He's, what, ninety?"

The joke only seemed to make her angrier. "I've had life experiences he could never dream of having. He is a scientist. I prefer to study history, literature, theology, philosophy, _logic_. I know a good deal he doesn't."

I know better than to point out that he has life experience she doesn't, as well. Honestly, though, I have to side with my girlfriend on this one. Not just because she's my girlfriend, but because Mr. Stark was very rude to her. And she had good points.

"Let's go. I've had enough of this. Let's just get the car and go, Miranda. Anyone who wants to come is welcome." I offered her a hand.

She accepted it and I pulled her to her feet.

"Ivy's brought us nothing but bad luck," I muttered.

Miranda paused. "I've forgiven Ivy – I think. She does as she thinks best and hopes she can. I understand her, and I hold her no grudge for it. But you're right. Except for my romance with you, nothing much good has come out of knowing her. That's why I have to go to nursing school now. Somewhere out of state, where she'll leave me alone."

"It's your life and your choice, Miranda. I'm sorry I got so mad about it."


	21. Chapter 21

Ivy here.

Yeah, our time at the farm was something I would rather forget. I don't mind saying it.

Jack's car had just enough seats for five. I was squeezed in between Edward and Ariel. I know this is going to sound really stupid, but I _hate_ sitting in the middle. One person moves, you get pushed. And no one has any concept of personal space or legroom. It's super annoying.

All that is to say, it makes me super cranky.

After two hours of it, I was fed up with the whole situation and pleaded for them to stop.

We ended up in a grassy field by the edge of the road. The sun shone, the wind blew gently through the trees.

I wanted to scream from frustration.

We had found a Macdonald's about twenty minutes before and we had a picnic lunch in the grass, too far away from the road to be easily spotted but close enough we could make a break for the car if we had to.

Edward sprawled on the grass.

"You'll get stains all over your shirt," warned Ariel.

"I don't care. I have a jacket to cover it if I have to." He closed his eyes and smiled.

Miranda reached across and put her hand on top of Jack's. "I can almost forget everything right now."

"So can I." He smiled back at her.

"I wish we could stay like this forever." Her other hand shot out and tapped him on the shoulder. "Tag!"

She jumped up and ran, shrieking with laughter. Jack scrambled after her, a huge smile on his face.

They chased each other around in circles, screaming with laughter.

I wish I could be in love like they were. Unfortunately, relationships aren't something I excel at. Unconditional, free, puppy love is something I will never experience.

Edward rolled over.

Ariel smiled down at him and settled down on the grass a few yards away.

"I guess one or more of us will end up in Korea next?"

"I'll go," I said. "I have to find Carmen anyhow."

"You sound tired."

"I _am_ tired. When this is over, I'm going to hire a good babysitter for Phillip and sleep for a month."

"Phillip... your son?" She looked deeply uncomfortable.

"Yes. You didn't tell them about what happened. I'm surprised."

"It's not my business to do that." She shrugged. "What was the other's name?"

"Natalia. I have people all over the world, in every world I've ever visited, watching for her. But I don't know what she looked like, or if those freaks changed her name."

"Natalia... after Natasha?"

"Of course." I lay down too, and stared at the sky. Turquoise, my favorite color, flecked with little cotton clouds. The sun warmed my cheeks. The definition of a golden afternoon.

Miranda collapsed next to me. "Have you ever read Daphne du Maurier's _Rebecca_?"

"I'm not much of a reader."

"You should, you'd love it."

"That's what you said about _Les Miserables_. That was the most boring book I've ever read. Not to mention the longest." It was a good book, and I understand why it's so popular. But it's so _long_. It starts with more than seventy pages of information about a random character who shows up once or twice. That's the rule, not the exception.

She groaned aloud. "I don't know why I bother. But in _Rebecca_ , the main character mentions she wants to create a bottle that she can store memories in. Like the way we store perfume, and bring the scent out whenever we want it. I wish I had a bottle like that. I'd put this afternoon in it."

It had to end soon. Nothing lasts. Not situations, not people, not loyalty, not anything.

But it wouldn't be me who made it happen.

The last few years had been like grasping at crumbling ground, trying to prevent change. It was a wonder my awakening hadn't been ruder than it was.

Carmen here.

I'd never been to South Korea before.

It was different than what I was used to. A lot of tall buildings. Very modern, very new. I had grown up in small towns with lots of very old buildings. This was something new.

Not that I actually got to see much of it. We went straight to the lab.

Ultron went to find Dr. Cho and the humans dragged Sharon to a back room.

I supported Sharon's head as we walked.

"I didn't think she'd do that." Sharon's voice was hoarse. "I admit it. That was a surprise."

"I'm so sorry, I caused this to happen."

Sharon's chuckle turned into a hacking cough. "Well, I did agree to it. And I'll live, don't worry. Though I won't enjoy it very much for a while."

I let go with one arm and pushed a door open. The room was white and sterile looking, except for the couches. Some kind of room for socializing.

We set her down on one of the couches, her blood smearing the pale fabric instantly.

Wanda let go of her. "I'll go find a doctor. Ultron will have the building under control by now."

I sank down next to Sharon. "How do you feel?"

A fit of coughing. "I think I have a broken rib. Or three. She kicks harder than I remember. I would have thought she'd be glad to be rid of the child – she didn't seem the maternal type."

Admittedly, she didn't. "You underestimate how protective she is. It must transfer over."

"Maybe..." Sharon winced with pain and swore in French.

Ivy used to get very annoyed with Sharon for her cursing and swearing. I'd never heard Ivy use any sort of crude/rude/nasty language.

"Does it hurt to talk?"

"No more than it does to be alive right now. It keeps me conscious. It's not the worse I've ever been injured, though."

"What was the worst?"

"I got my face punched in by Grant Ward. After being hit by a car. Don't ask."

I winced. "Aren't you two on the same side?"

"The others in the room didn't know that."

Quicksilver sank down on the couch opposite us. "You're friends?"

"We're not." The words came out too quickly. Where had that come from? "We have a mutual friend." I spoke more slowly now, chosing my words more carefully. "Ivy."

His expression darkened. "Ah, yes. _Her_."

My cheeks burned. "She's a very nice girl, even if you won't believe it. She has one of the strongest moral compasses I've ever seen. She just doesn't react very well to being threatened, or seeing people she likes threatened. Apparently, finding out she's been betrayed doesn't agree with her. I know you won't believe this, but I've never seen her so violent before."

"For your sake, I hope not. I'm surprised she didn't try to hurt you."

"Ivy? Why, what have I done?" The answer hit me like a sack of bricks. I had betrayed her. Why had I forgotten? I rubbed my eyes. "She's got problems, but she has control over her aggression. Usually." But why hadn't I been beaten up like Sharon?

My eyes stung. My head ached.

"Are you alright?" Quicksilver sat up straight, looking at me with concern.

"I think I need some asprin or advil or something. I have a headache."

"I'll go find you some."

"Thank you."

The questions swirled around my sleep deprived mind.

The world slipped out from under me.

My head cracked against the floor.

"Are you alright?"

My memories flooded back, fully intact.

Quicksilver was helping me into a sitting position. "What happened? Are you alright?"

I clamped down hard on my panic and placed my hands on my eyes, rubbing again – there was tears of pain in them. "I'm fine. I think I just need to lie down for a while." I crawled up onto the couch.

"You hit your head – I'll get the doctor."

"Yes, maybe you should." I closed my eyes.

His footsteps hurried away.

I stood up and walked to the door, glancing both ways.

"What are you doing?" Sharon's voice was barely a whisper.

"I don't betray my friends when I'm not being mind controlled."

Sharon's face paled.

"I'm not vengeful, Sharon. Be glad of that." She made me physically sick. My stomach twisted and my head hurt – not just from hitting the ground. I wanted to cry and throw up and scream and break down all at once. But I did none of those things. "Goodbye. I'm sorry we couldn't make you like us."

"It wasn't _liking_ you. It was just a job, what I do. Then it got personal after I failed. You were always so nice to me, though."

The confession made my resolve weaken for a moment.

"That's a very... expected thing for you to say. For someone who's been manipulating us. But you can't anymore. We'll never trust a word you say again." I spun on my heel. The world tilted and I fell against the doorway. Bad decision. "Anyhow, goodbye."


	22. Chapter 22

Carmen still narrating here.

I couldn't really run out of the building. With the way I had just hit my head, walking was barely possible.

I headed for the ground floor, using doorways and corners as cover whenever someone walked past.

Footsteps slammed against the floor behind me.

I turned to see who was coming, only for a body to slam into my back. My hands shot out in front of me, palms smacking against the ground.

A hand wrapped around my wrist, pulling me off the ground. "Where do you think you're going?"

I reached out with my other hand and grabbed Quicksilver's fingers, trying to peel them off of my wrist. "Outside, I needed some air."

He grabbed my free hand and pried it off.

I had taken self defense classes before, but actually faced with having to defend myself was an entirely different matter. Any confidence I'd had to defend myself evaporated.

I twisted and pulled hard on my wrists. "He's tricking you, you know. He wants to kill the human race."

"Don't –" he hesitated.

"He's a robot who believes humanity is going to destroy the world."

He shook his head.

"All that mind control is gone. I know how this ends, you know that. Look me in the eye and tell me I'm lying."

"You're trying to trick me."

"No, I'm not. Ask your sister."

As if on cue, his sister came running down the hall, shouting at him in Russian. My grasp of Russian being barely adequate, I can't really relate what she said, but I understood that she had read Vision's mind and hadn't liked what she'd seen.

He turned and stared at me. "You weren't lying." He let go of my wrists.

"I told you I wasn't. Now if you'll excuse me... " I took off running for the exit.

They followed after me. "What else can you tell us?"

"Nothing until we're very, very far away."

As previously mentioned, I don't like big cities much. They're not what I'm used to.

Especially because it's easy to get lost. Particularly when you're trying to move quickly and you can't read or speak the local langauge. My only exposure to Korean is walking past Pia when she's watching one of her TV shows. I don't get the appeal – I just follow her around to conventions to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid and dress in those crazy outfits to make her happy.

[What's that? Miranda? You're into... those kinds of shows? No, no it's not a bad thing. You like THAT SHOW? No, no it's not a bad thing. I didn't say it was. If you were going to like those, I should have guessed that your favorite would be set in Victorian England.]

Edit here: I've been informed that Korean TV shows and the anime shows she dresses me from are not from the same culture or countries and, in fact, have nothing to do with each other. Who knew?

[No need to glare at me like that, Miranda. Just because I go to conventions to babysit my sister doesn't mean I pay attention to the stuff there. Usually I just find someone else who got dragged there against their will and commiserate with them.]

Also, apparently Miranda, the girl who considers Shakespeare to be light reading and modern novels to be extremely boring, is no longer a closet Otaku. Who knew?

[No, Miranda, I told you it wasn't a bad thing. It's just a little odd, considering what I knew about you.]

Rabbit trail there aside, we headed toward the outskirts of the city.

There's an interesting little thing about mind control that completely takes over the mind. In order to do that, it supresses your entire mind to a certain extent. When you wake up, your senses and your reasoning sharpen like mad.

"Pietro, you keep an eye out behind us for people who might be following us. I don't think they'd have time to find someone for that, but I'm not going to be caught over a silly thing like not keeping an eye out. Wanda, watch up ahead. I'll keep an eye on both sides."

She raised her eyebrows at her brother. "Are you in charge?"

"It's good advice." He hung back behind us.

She eyed me for a moment, then took several steps ahead.

I scanned around us on both sides. People were everywhere, no one particularly standing out from the rest. What was I looking for, anyhow?

"You don't seem angry with us," remarked Pietro.

"To be honest, I'm really annoyed. I loved this dress and it's a mess now." I felt terribly self conscious in this dirty tattered mess of a formal gown – it had been a vision in blue when I had put it on, now it looked ridiculous.

"About everything else?"

"I know why you did. And I can't bring myself to be angry with anyone who was only trying to do what they believed was right."

They exchanged glances.

"That's an interesting way to look at it." Pietro's tone was careful. "But isn't it dangerous, in this situation? You trust quickly."

"Oh, definitely. But I know all about you anyhow. Besides, I think it's always best to realize that people are always doing what they think is best or right. That way, no matter how twisted or strange it might be, you can at least find a way to grasp it and maybe to understand and eventually talk to them about it – and out of it, if necessary."

I glanced over my shoulder. Pietro stared at me with a strange look on his face.

"Something wrong?"

He shook his head. "Keep an eye out."

Ivy here.

Before I faked my death, I didn't travel much.

After my death, I went _everywhere_. Name a country, real or fictional, and I've probably been there. Not for pleasure, though. On business. When it came out that someone could see the future – and it was actually real – everyone wanted my services. I did a lot of reading and TV watching then sold the information without regard to who received it. Plus, I did a ton of research into history and sold that information too.

And no, I didn't sell anyone anything actually dangerous. I'm too smart for that. Just odds and ends, to people who didn't realize the true price of seeing the future. Not many people do. They paid my price willingly. Money and favors aren't the only thing that you can use to pay with. To quote _Once upon A Time_ "All magic comes with a price".

We just can't stop going off topic this time, can we? Ah well.

Anyhow, seeing South Korea wasn't exciting for me. I'd been there on business for a week. It was... it was nice. It leaves a very nice impression. Everywhere where the government isn't actively trying to have me arrested leaves a very nice impression. I teleported into North Korea once too, actually. Why? For kicks. Worse idea ever.

It's really hard to make your way around big cities without a map, though. Luckily, the Doctor's teleporter comes with a "telepathic field" - no idea what that means, but it translates everything in my head, and there's no way I'd understand if he told me, so I don't really care.

The tracker was constantly on the move – what that was supposed to mean, I didn't care to guess. I followed after the constantly changing coordinates. Jack had hooked up his tracker to my watch and flashing dots made it much easier to understand than the numbers it had located before.

I eventually spotted them among a crowd. They weren't exactly trying to blend in, and none of them looked like locals.

I broke into a run, pushing past people.

Carmen turned in my direction and stared. "You're... impressive." Her tone was deadpan. "Very quick."

"I had a tracker. Come on, let's go. Everyone's waiting."

"Everyone?"

"Yes. They know now."

She glanced over her shoulder at Quicksilver, hesitating.

What had come over her? "I'm not sticking around. You can, if you want, but I wouldn't recommend it."

Quicksilver nodded. "Go."

She grabbed onto my arm. "Sounds good."

I hit the teleport button.

The meadow flashed into view – my friends, brilliant sunlight, calmness – and then flashed into white.

Carmen's grip left my arm.

I stood alone, in a perfectly white room. Tiled floor, white walls, white ceiling. No door of course. The only contrast was the black chair in the middle.

I had never seen this room before.

"There you are!" The voice had a very Scottish accent to it.

I spun around.

The Doctor stood a few yards away. (Yes, _that_ Doctor, Whovians. Non-Whovians, google it. Or check out tumblr, I don't care which).

"What's this supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I needed to talk to you before you came any further. You might want to sit down."

I heeded his advice. He rarely had good news for me.

"I thought there was a few things you should know about your condition. And yourself."

Condition was the right word. Power it certainly wasn't, and ability still had good implications.

"You know how you received them."

"Yes, I was exposed to a crack in reality and exposed to energy which my body can now reproduce. You've told me a thousand times. Where are we?"

"The TARDIS. A private room with no distractions."

"Seriously... and did you know about Sharon?"

"No, I didn't. I knew there was something off about her, but I never suspected a thing. She tricked all of us." His jaw tightened. "But that's not what I'm going to tell you today."

I waited.

"You always assumed that you were the only person with your ability."

My heart leapt into my throat.

"You were wrong."


	23. Chapter 23

Edward here.

I sat by the car, watching Miranda and Jack chase each other around. Jack limped after her, and she slowed accordingly. Just out of reach, but willing to let him see he had a chance.

Ariel's head popped out of the long grass, gripping a cell phone. "Hi."

Her face froze.

"Sharon, it's you." She practically yelled this. "Oh, you want to be on speakerphone? Alright."

I got up and practically ran to Sharon.

Jack and Miranda dropped down next to her.

"Oh, hi. This is Sharon, everyone." She had a funny French accent. "Yes, lovely to hear from you all. How's your mother, Jack?"

Jack's face turned red. "If you go within _ten miles of her_ –"

"Oh, hush. I have no intention of it. I liked your mother – her tuna sandwiches were fantastic. Besides, I'm in Korea, with Ultron."

"Why would you work for a robot that wants to destrot the human race?"

"He likes me, he'll let me live. Evolve, as he says. If you believe in that sort of thing. I personally don't. Ooh, you sound quiet. I told you all I was Christian, didn't I? I just didn't say that I was a Catholic, not a Protestant like Ivy. Anyhow, though, that's not why I called."

"Why did you call?" Ariel's voice was remarkably even.

"I wanted to let you know something about Edward – something even he doesn't know."

All eyes turned to me.

My stomach turned. What could it possibly be?

"HYDRA brainwashed him into helping me. He told me everything he could find out about Ivy, even pretended to have a crush on her. Or did he? He didn't really seem to know." She gave a hollow laugh. "It was hilarious. He betrayed every detail I asked for, didn't even hesitate. And with that cute face, why would any of you hide anything from him? A sweet puppy dog who was too shy to approach the object of his affections. Tell me, Edward, was that real or something you made up for part of your cover?"

I rolled up onto my knees. My hands shook. My lungs gasped for air, knowing that there was air, plenty of air, and yet I still gasped for it. My stomach churned and twisted.

It wasn't true. I wasn't a spy. I hadn't betrayed anyone.

"Yes, it's true, Edward. We had you hypnotized and brainwashed. You were supposed to charm her into telling us whatever we wanted to know. You were an aspiring actor. What better way to get experience? No need to thank me, you've paid me back in full, Ed."

There was a horrible moment of silence.

"Don't bother asking the idiot about anything. He was hypnotized into forgetting it all. I just thought he'd like to know. And you lovely people as well, of course. By the way, tell Ivy when you see her next that she might want to take some anger management classes. And that's about it. See you some other time. Or not. I don't care."

The line cut off.

The phrase 'deafening silence' had never made so much sense before.

Miranda stood. "We... we need to talk to Ivy. Edward, can you get into the car please?"

Jack grabbed my arm and kept a very tight grip on it until he had me in the back seat of his car.

"Stay here," ordered Miranda. Her expression was utterly blank. "Jack, keep an eye on him. No, Edward, please don't take it the wrong way. I trust you, and I doubt you're hypnotized or brainwashed right now. But in your emotional state you're likely to do something dangerous and now is really not the time."

She took Ariel's phone. "I'm going to call her back and see if I can get her to pick up or give us more information. She's clearly enjoying this, she'll be overconfident, she might give something away..." her voice trailed off.

No one believed a word.

She didn't seem to either.

Back to Ivy now.

"You are – in your world, in your timeline. But you aren't the first. There are multiple cracks in reality, so many of them. You aren't the only one to find them. I once knew a little girl with one in her bedroom wall. It drew me to her, as it did me to you." The Doctor watched my face closely.

"Who are the others? How many?" I wasn't alone. A sob escaped my mouth – pure joy. " _Why didn't you tell me_?"

Do you know what it's like to be alone? You said yes in your head just now, didn't you? Well, let me tell you something. There are many ways to be alone. I had suffered one so unique that I had literally been to the only person to ever suffer from it. I could spend time with people, yes, I could have relationships. But at the same time, I had to pick the right people, the ones who would be beneficial, who might understand, who could hurt me the least. Then, after picking the best people, I must try to disconnect, to not be too attached. It was like dancing on a wire over top of a high waterfall. One slip, one mistake, and I could fall and be smashed to pieces on the rocks below. Sharon had been so good as to clue me into how that could feel. For the last several years, I had worn gloves every day, every moment of the day, and covered every inch of skin possible so that no one could have any energy rub off on them. Physical contact without something in between me and the other person was too dangerous, To know that I wasn't the first or the only was almost like falling off the waterfall and knowing that I couldn't be hurt when I hit the rocks.

"They died, Ivy."

My heart dropped down, plummeting like a thousand pound weight.

"All of them are dead. They experienced all of the things you have. Two committed suicide a year after they gained their powers. Some just stopped trying to live and just faded away. The rest tried to make it work – one even tried selling information, like you have. She was murdered in the first two years of business - nasty business with some organization called Cypher."

"What happened to the little girl?"

"I never gave her the chance to find out. When she got old enough, I took her traveling and I gave her adventures. The travel seemed to keep her abilities from working – probably because of the effects the time vortex has on the energy. Also, her exposure wasn't nearly as direct as yours."

"And the others? Did you meet them?"

"Some, not all. Only the ones that needed my help."

"What happened to them, Doctor?"

"The ones who knew all went mad, eventually. From the realization, what they did, or what happened to them. Their minds broke eventually. Some betrayed their secrets because they couldn't handle it anymore, and destroyed their universes from all of the created paradoxes. Some didn't, but went mad from the weight of all the secrets they carried."

My hands gripped the arms of the chair, my fingers slippery and clammy. Were they always like this? "Is that what will happen to me, Doctor? Just pain until I can't mentally handle it any more? Am I going to go crazy? I can't do that, what about Phillip? And Natalia. Doctor, please, I can't."

"You _can't_ go mad, Ivy."

My hands froze.

"When I first met you isn't the first time you met me. I talked to you on the playground when you were a little girl. I had a different face then, you wouldn't remember it. But I had sensed something different about you and I checked through your past. When I found out about the powers you would develop, I went back even further, to before you were born. I told your mother I was a doctor at the hospital."

"Mom met you?"

"It was the appointment where she was going to find out for sure if she was pregnant. You were still growing and in a moldable state, to a certain extent. I did a few things and rearranged your cells a little."

Nothing in life should have surprised me anymore. Somehow, though, this piece of information was not unlike a bucket of mop water to the face – hot, dirty, and awful. "You. Did. _What_?"

"I wanted to give you the best chance possible. So I arranged a few things – nothing major. I had to hardwire your mind so that you wouldn't be like the others. Because of that, you had a strong sense of protectiveness over everything and everyone you liked, and to do what you thought was right, no matter what. Don't tell me that you aren't grateful for that – your instincts kept you from spilling all your little secrets the moment you stepped on that helicarrier. That impulsive streak – that way, people won't think twice when you end up in strange situations. They'd never question it. I also knew you'd need to be stubborn. A good trait for the life you'd have. Then I rewired your mind completely. You will never go mad because you are unable to. I made sure of that. Your sanity is assured."

A sinking feeling formed in my stomach. Any freedom that insanity might have brought was denied me, a door closed almost as soon as it opened. Yet I almost wished that I could. I wished I could go mad, forget everything, create a different reality. Even if only for a little while.

How pathetic, that something so awful could ever be something I wanted.

"Your genetics, of course, were changed around a little as well. Your predisposition toward physical strength and agility were important – you needed to be able to defend yourself and run. Then your appearance, too, once I'd dealt with everything else. I've always had a liking for ginger hair. Of course I had to make you pretty, too. No use in messing around with everything in there if I couldn't give you something like that while I was at it."

My personality was not my own. My body was not my own. My face was not my own. My _mind_ was not my own. It was modified, designed, different. Still human, yet not quite. Not that I had been for a very long time.

He seemed to realize the thoughts racing through my mind, but met my eyes directly. "And your life situations. I arranged for the friends you had – how else could you have found people with extraordinary skills and the personalities that would benefit you most? Miranda, a patient, caring girl with an incredible love of people and knowledge. Jack, a genius who could invent you anything and would become instant friends with Miranda. They're a perfect match. Soul mates, even, if you believe in that sort of thing. Ariel, the girl whose fame and family will ensure you will always have a place to go. And Carmen, the girl who is both the sweetest girl you will ever know and whose family is so well connected that one phone call from her could have anything arranged. You think that it was luck?"

My head seemed to shake of its own accord. "Doctor... what have you done? My whole life is a lie."

"Of course it's real. What do you mean?" He frowned.

"It's fake. I know you meant well. You wanted to do the best for me. But it's all fake."

"I just put the pieces into place. You're the one who made them come together."

I lurched onto my feet. A roar filled my ears and red flooded my vision. A scream tore from my mouth. "No! No, it's not! I'm someone's pet project, something to be pitied and helped. My life is something

you created. Was I an experiment? To see if I would turn out differently if given ideal growing conditions?"

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing to have them."

"It – it –" My mouth couldn't form the words it wanted to say. Because what can you say? What can you think or feel?

"And why is Edward there? Because he's good at psychology or something? Because he'd be a good therapist."

"No. I didn't arrange for him to meet you. He's a wild card who I never expected. He really is in love with you."

Ha. Ha. _Ha_.


End file.
